Kevin Spacey trial: movie and TV show star to face charges at Southwark Crown Court - Oscar winner allegations

Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey is to stand trial in London today (28 June), facing allegations of sexual offences against four men dating back 17 years. The 63-year-old Hollywood star has previously refuted a total of 12 charges, which included sexual assault and indecent assault.

Southwark Crown Court will hear the accusations spanning from 2001 to 2013. In January, the actor pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

The two-time Oscar winner also denied four more charges 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 in Gloucestershire in April 2013.

The Crown Prosecution Service authorised the charges against Spacey in May 2022, but he could only be formally charged after travelling to the UK in June. It is thought the trial will last four weeks in total.

During an initial court hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court that month, Spacey's lawyer, Patrick Gibbs QC, said that his client  “strenuously denies any and all criminality in this case." Gibbs added that the defendant had returned to the UK “to establish his innocence” and “proceed with his life”.

Although Spacey has an address in Waterloo, south London, he also has a home in the United States, where his family and pet dog are situated. He is known for his roles in House of Cards, American Beauty and The Usual Suspects, and served as the artistic director at The Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 to 2015.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place in London and Gloucestershire between 2005 and 2013. Spacey is currently on unconditional bail.

In October 2022, the actor won a civil lawsuit in the US where he was accused of an “unwanted sexual advance” at a party in 1986. In that lawsuit, he “categorically denied” the accusations and said he “did not harbour any sexual interest or desire” at the time or since the alleged incident.