Actor Kevin Spacey has been found not guilty on all nine charges at London’s Southwark Crown Court in a trial which started in June.
Spacey originally faced 12 charges but three of these were eventually struck out. Today, 26 July, Spacey was found not guilty on the remaining nine charges.
These included sexual assault and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity. The incidents allegedly happened between 2001 and 2013 when Spacey served as the artistic director of the Old Vic in the UK.
Spacey was also cleared of charges in a New York court last year where the jury found that the actor had not sexually assaulted actor Anthony Rapp, who was one of the first people to come forward with abuse allegations against Spacey.
Actor Kevin Spacey arrives at Southwark Crown Court at on June 28, 2023 in London, England. The Oscar-winning US Actor is charged with 12 counts of sexually assaulting four men in the UK between 2005 and 2013. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
In London, Justice Mark Wall informed the court that the jury deliberated their decision for 12 hours and 26 minutes.
Defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC had told the jurors: “It’s not a crime to like sex, even if you’re famous and it’s not a crime to have sex, even if you’re famous, and it’s not a crime to have casual sex. And it’s not a crime to have sex with someone of the same sex because it’s 2023 not 1823.”
The BBC reports that Spacey was in tears as the not guilty verdicts were read out.
Spacey’s legal troubles began in 2017. He was let go from Netflix’s House of Cards and his role in Ridley Scott’s All The Money In The World was reshot with Christopher Plummer playing Paul Getty.
