Kevin Spacey doubled down on his efforts to deny assault allegations against him in a London courtroom with his return to the stand on Friday, insisting his accuser is after money rather than justice.
Taking the helm again, the Oscar winner, 63, told Southwark Crown Court that the plaintiff – who accused Spacey of grabbing his crotch after they were introduced in the 2000s – “made up his whole story from beginning to end,” reports Deadline.
“I don’t accept a single word that comes out of his mouth,” the ‘American Beauty’ star says, claiming his accuser’s motivation for lying was “money, money and then money” .
The beleaguered ‘House of Cards’ actor added that he thinks the man in question is “for some reason angry with me.”
Denying that a ‘crotch hold’ is a ‘trademark’ or something he does on a first encounter, Spacey also said: ‘Let me put it this way, it’s is the term ‘grabbing a crotch’ or ‘groping a crotch’ which I object to.
While telling prosecutor Christina Agnew that such a move is “usually not a first move,” Spacey did not specify what “moves” he deemed appropriate.
“Every encounter that we have as humans, that I’ve had, is unique,” he said.
He also denied Agnew’s suggestion that “status and position” made people “do what [Spacey] research.”
“I found it harder to trust people because of who I was,” the Tony winner said.
When asked again if his fame made it easy to flirt with people, he added: “I’m sure if I wanted to I could have had sex all the time, but I didn’t. do.”
Spacey – who in January pleaded not guilty to 12 counts against him, related to four men – claimed he instead “used my power” solely in terms of contributing to creative endeavours.
Spacey argues that encounters with an accuser that led him to a party in the early 2000s and another that claims the ‘Usual Suspects’ star ‘drugged’ and then performed a sex act on him were ” consensual interactions”. He told the court he ‘certainly misinterpreted’ the signs with the man who says Spacey caught him in the Cotswolds over a decade ago.
Among the charges to which Spacey pleaded not guilty were those of indecent assault, sexual assault and other charges related to encounters that allegedly took place between 2001 and 2013. At the time, Spacey was living in large went to the UK as artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre.