Sir Elton John Stands As Defence Witness for Kevin Spacey In UK Court 

American actor Kevin Spacey has been the subject of a sexual misconduct case since 2017. The House of Cards star was dropped immediately from the Netflix show in solidarity with the fight against sexual abuse. The 63-year-old actor now faces 12 counts for alleged incidents between 2001 and 2013 during his stay in the UK. 

Kevin Spacey Is No Stranger To Lawsuits 

In 2017, 51-year-old Anthony Rapp accused the American actor of abuse and charged him in court in 2020. The confession stirred up a rollercoaster of allegations that tarnished Spacey’s acting and filmmaking career. Rapp claimed the Academy Award-winning actor tried to sleep with him in the 1980s when he was only 14. 

However, a federal jury in New York waived off the case in October 2022 after concluding that Rapp didn’t prove his allegations. Similarly, another fellow accused Spacey of groping him when he was a busboy at a restaurant in Massachusetts during the summer of 2016. But prosecutors dropped the case in July 2019 when the accuser pleaded the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify. 

Also, a massage therapist accused Spacey of groping him. But the case was dismissed in Los Angeles after the accuser died in 2019. The actor was also hit with a $31 million lawsuit after his disgraceful exit from House of Cards because of allegations of sexual harassment of crew members, which cost the company a tremendous amount of money. 

Disgraced Stellar Actor Now Faces 12 Counts 

Four men have accused Kevin Spacey and are on trial in London because the crimes were allegedly committed on UK grounds. The trial started on June 28 and will last for four weeks. A jury of nine men and five women was also selected on the first day to handle the case. 

Prosecutor Christine Agnew called him a “sexual bully” at the London Southwark Crown Court on June 30, citing the actor’s joy in oppressing others. The American actor and his defence attorney Patrick Gibbs pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges. Gibbs argued that the accusations were made up. He asked the jury to carefully examine the evidence to see that the claims of non-consensual activity were wrong. 

Spacey was once the artistic director of the Old Vic Theater between 2004 to 2015, which authenticates his stay in the UK during the alleged timeframe. One of the four accusers testified on July 3 via video interview that Spacey assaulted him in the early 2000s by rubbing his neck during a working relationship between the two. 

The second accuser testified on July 4 that he met Spacey in a pub. He claimed that Spacey kissed his neck twice and grabbed him by his crotch after saving the actor’s dog. Another man testified on July 5 that the 63-year-old Hollywood leading man made sexual comments at him at a charity event and grabbed his penis from his jeans when they were alone. 

The fourth accuser charged Spacey with seven counts and testified on July 10 that the actor was a “vile sexual offender” who drugged him when he visited his home for acting mentorship. He claimed to have found the former House of Cards star performing oral sex on him when the drug’s effect waned, and he woke up. 

British Legend Stands As Key Witness 

Sir Elton John, alongside his partner, David Furnish, testified on behalf of Kevin Spacey on July 17. The Rocket Man singer took the stand from Monaco and answered the prosecuting counsel’s questions regarding Spacey’s presence at John and Furnish’s yearly White Tie and Tiara ball in the early 2000s. 

The 76-year-old British music legend told the court that he didn’t recognise one of the accused actor’s alleged victims, who claimed that Spacey inappropriately touched him. The accuser said he almost swerved off the road on one specific occasion during an aggressive incident with Spacey while driving to the ball around 2004 or 2005. 

But Sir Elton John testified that Spacey didn’t attend the event in either of the years. He claimed that the actor only participated in the ball in 2001 on a memorable night when he dressed in white tie and arrived on a private jet. No photograph was seen of Kevin Spacey from the 2003 or 2004 events, to which John alluded that an actor of Spacey’s calibre couldn’t attend and not be documented. 

While the actor’s 42-year career has been riddled with controversies, it is illegal to call him an offender. Since a person is innocent until proven guilty by the law court. So we wait patiently for the jury to conclude if the actor goes scot-free and continues his stellar career or follows the path of other acting colleagues into incarceration.