Kevin Spacey found not guilty of sexual assault by London jury

Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey was cleared of all charges this afternoon in Southwark Crown Court in London after the jury deliberated for over 12 hours.

Spacey stood accused by four different men of seven counts of sexual assault, three counts of indecent assault, and two counts of non-consensual sexual activity that allegedly occurred from 2001 to 2013.

The actor had been granted unconditional bail by Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram in June of last year after an initial hearing.

In a statement leaving the courthouse, Spacey said, "I imagine many of you can understand that there is a lot for me to process after what has just happened today.

"But I would like to say that I am enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence and all of the facts carefully before they reached their decision and I am humbled by the outcome today."

Spacey claimed that he had some intimate contact with three of the men, but that it was consensual. He said of one allegation, "The moment he told me he was not interested, I stopped".

The fourth man to accuse the actor claims to have met Spacey at the West End Theatre in the early 2000s, which Spacey denies ever happened.

Spacey was first publicly accused of sexual assault by actor Anthony Rapp, who claimed Spacey sexually abused him in 1986 when Rapp was 14. The case was decided in favour of Spacey in October 2022.

When the allegations first broke in 2017, the Old Vic Theatre, where Spacey had served as Artistic Director from 2003 to 2015, says it received 20 allegations of inappropriate behavior concerning the star.

Spacey has faced similar allegations in the the United States in Massachusetts and New York courts. In total, more than 30 men have accused Spacey of various types of sexual misconduct in both the US and the UK.

A Los Angeles Judge earlier this summer ruled that Spacey owed 30.9 million dollars to the makers of the TV drama House of Cards, for violating his contract by sexually harassing crew members.

Spacey has denied all allegations, and said in an interview with German magazine, Zeit, last month he plans on restarting his acting career as soon as possible.

For help or advice about rape, sexual assault or domestic abuse, visit the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre website, or call the National 24-hour helpline at 1800 77 8888.