Kevin Spacey denies sexual assault charges, gets bail

Kevin Spacey “vigorously denies” the sexual assault allegations, his lawyer said on Thursday, as the Oscar-winning actor appeared in a London court to face five charges against three men. Photographers and TV camera crews swarmed Spacey, 62, as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates Court in London for the preliminary hearing.

Spacey sat on the glass platform during the half-hour hearing, standing to give his full name – Kevin Spacey Fowler – along with his date of birth and an address in London. He was not asked to enter a formal plea, but his attorney, Patrick Gibbs, said: ‘Mr. Spacey strenuously denies any criminality in this case.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram granted Spacey unconditional bail until his next appearance, a plea hearing scheduled for July 14. The former House of Cards star is charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in the west of England in April 2013. The victims are now in their 30s and 40s.

In a statement released last month, Spacey said he would travel to Britain to face the charges and was confident he would “prove my innocence”.

Spacey was questioned by British police in 2019 over claims by several men that he assaulted them. The two-time Oscar winner ran London’s Old Vic theater between 2004 and 2015.

Spacey won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1995 film The Usual Suspects and the Academy Award for Lead Actor for the 1999 film American Beauty.

But his famous career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.