A man who says Kevin Spacey subjected him to a torrent of verbal abuse and grabbed him around the crotch has denied claims by the Hollywood star's lawyer that he fabricated the assault allegations, saying he had covered up the "horrific" incident for years.
Content Warning: This story is about sexual assault.
The man is one of four who say the two-time Academy Award winner assaulted them in Britain between 2001 and 2013. For much of that time, Spacey was artistic director of the Old Vic Theater in London.
Spacey, 63, faces trial in a London court on 12 charges, including sexual assault, indecent assault and causing a person to engage in non-consensual penetrative sexual activity. He denies all of the allegations, and his lawyer suggested that the accusers are seeking payments from Spacey.
The third alleged victim who testified said Spacey, who smelled strongly of alcohol, peppered him with a "machine gun" torrent of crude verbal abuse before grabbing him around the crotch "like a cobra" backstage at a London theater during a charity event in London. early 2000s.
During cross-examination, Spacey's lawyer, Patrick Gibbs, claimed that many parts of the accuser's story were "completely false".
"With the utmost respect, you were not there and I was," replied the man, who cannot be identified under British law and gave evidence out of public view. "It was horrible. And no one ever spoke to me like that, ever."
He said the incident left him feeling "demeaned" and "like worthless".
The man denied the lawyer's suggestion that he had tried to "monetize" his meeting with Spacey.
Pressed as to why he did not speak at the time, the accuser said that "Mr Spacey was a shining light of the West End" and feared that "if I say anything I will be the problem".
"It was such a horrible thing. I boxed it up in my mind and tried not to think about it," she said.
The alleged victim is the third man to say Spacey aggressively grabbed his crotch, and prosecutors have described the actor as a predatory "sexual abuser."
The jury of nine men and three women is scheduled to hear a fourth plaintiff next week. The trial began last week at Southwark Crown Court in London and is expected to last almost a month.
Spacey, who is out on unconditional bail, could face a prison sentence if convicted.
Spacey, one of the biggest names in Hollywood until allegations of sexual misconduct derailed his career, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1995 film The Usual Suspects and a Lead Actor Oscar for the film. from 1999 American Beauty. He managed the Old Vic in London between 2004 and 2015.
