LONDON –
A man who met Kevin Spacey in a pub says that at one point when they were alone during a heavy drinking night with other people, the actor kissed his neck twice and grabbed his crotch.
The two-time Oscar winner appeared to panic after being pushed and told: “Sorry, man, I don’t bat for that team,” the witness said.
The man’s interview with police was shown to jurors in Spacey’s sexual assault trial in a London court on Tuesday.
Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges that could send him to prison if convicted. His attorney said Spacey denies all allegations of non-consensual acts and suggested the accusers are seeking payments from a wealthy star.
Indictments against four men between 2001 and 2013 while the American actor worked at the Old Vic Theater include seven counts of sexual assault, three counts of indecent assault and causing a person to engage in non-consensual penetrative sexual activity.
The witness, who cannot be identified under British court rules, said Spacey had invited him and others to return to a house where the actor was staying in the Cotswolds to “continue the party” after the pub closed. . Spacey offered alcohol and marijuana, he said.
According to the witness, Spacey had been friendly while drinking double Jack Daniel’s whiskey and soft drinks in the pub with the man and his group of friends. As the drinks flowed, the group began calling the Hollywood star “K-Dawg,” the witness said.
The man said he hadn’t given much thought to Spacey’s maudlin behavior at the bar when he put his hands on the back and legs of the man and his friends.
But he said he was shocked by what happened after he accidentally let Spacey’s dog out of the house while coming back from smoking on the deck. He testified that he managed to catch the small dog and apologized to Spacey, who told her not to worry and approached him in a “hug” stance.
“We did an awkward man hug as I call it,” the witness said. “He hugged me, he kind of patted me on the back.”
Spacey then kissed him on the neck, grabbed his crotch and said, “Easy, easy,” the man testified.
He said that when he pushed Spacey, the actor’s eyes widened and he had an “immediate panicked look on his face.”
The witness said that he left the house and called his father and told him about the unwanted contact on the way home.
When police questioned Spacey about the allegation, he said he had no recollection of kissing anyone’s neck or touching their crotch and would not have done such a thing without an indication of consent, according to the prosecutor’s opening statement.
Spacey said it was “entirely possible and indeed probable” that he made an “clumsy step” that he had forgotten and might have groped someone in the process, prosecutors said.
The prosecution said the actor indicated that he vaguely recognized a photo of the man and that he may have been among a group the actor was drinking with at the time.
The witness will be questioned before a jury of nine men and three women at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday.
Spacey, who has homes in the United States and London, is free on bail.