Prosecutor says Kevin Spacey used celebrity status for 'opportunity grab' described by accusers

Prosecutor Christine Agnew said the interactions with the Hollywood star that left the men feeling "small, diminished and worthless" were similar not because the men conspired — they didn't know each other — but because it was, as she said earlier in the case, Spacey's trademark move.

"There comes a stage when so many people are saying the same thing," Agnew told a London jury. "It just becomes, I'd suggest, overwhelming."

Spacey seized brief moments for an "opportunity grab" and was able to get away with the assaults for years because he was a celebrity who took advantage of his power, Agnew said.

The two-time Oscar winner long benefited from a "trinity of protection": knowing that men he attacked would not complain; if they did, they wouldn't be believed; if they were believed, he knew authorities wouldn't take action because of his status, Agnew said.

That changed after allegations in the U.S. arose in 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement when a fellow American actor accused Spacey of sexual misconduct decades earlier.

Other allegations followed and eventually led the four men to independently complain to police in the U.K. about incidents between 2001 and 2013, mostly during the period Spacey was artistic director at the Old Vic Theatre in London. The alleged acts escalated from unwanted touching to aggressive crotch-grabbing and, in one instance, performing oral sex on an unconscious man.

Spacey, 63, pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including multiple counts of sexual and indecent assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. He faced 13 charges until Wednesday, when the judge removed four counts that duplicated the same allegations under an older statute.

The defense is scheduled to present its closing arguments Thursday in Southwark Crown Court in London.

The actor testified over two days and denied sexually assaulting three men. He said he had consensual encounters with two and downplayed a third man's crotch-grabbing allegations as a "clumsy pass." He said allegations that he made racially insensitive remarks to a fourth man and violently grabbed his private parts were "pure fantasy."

The defense cast doubt on the accusers' accounts and suggested they were looking to get rich. Two of the men filed lawsuits against Spacey and a third man reached out through Spacey's website seeking to settle the criminal case.

"Are they all motivated by 'money, money, money' as you were told rather dramatically by the defendant?" Agnew said in quoting a snippet of Spacey's testimony. "Or have they all just had enough of the secret of the truth that they have been carrying around for many years? They're no longer prepared to be the secret keeper of someone who treated them so badly."

Spacey presented photos one of the men posted on social media of the two of them and a photo that man sent him from a trip he took where he claimed to have read a Shakespeare soliloquy from atop a mountain at Spacey's suggestion.

Other defense witnesses said Spacey would have had little or no opportunity to assault a man backstage at a charity event, as the alleged victim claimed.

“It’s a backstage quick grab,” Agnew said. “It’s over in a moment.”

Spacey dropped names of famous friends and enlisted the support of Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, by video link from Monaco to call into question the timing of one claim.

The alleged victim said he was driving Spacey to the rock star's White Tie & Tiara Ball in 2004 or 2005 when the actor grabbed his crotch so forcefully, he almost ran off the road. The timing is important because the man said Spacey began fondling him around 2000 and the incident — years later — was the final occasion because he avoided him afterward.

Furnish backed Spacey's testimony that he only attended the event in 2001. John didn't remember the year, but said Spacey was only at their Windsor home once — in the early 2000s — and spent the night.

The alleged victim said he may have gotten the year wrong but wouldn't have forgotten the incident because it took his breath away and he threatened to hit Spacey.

Agnew said there was no doubt Spacey was a celebrated actor, great arts patron and kind, as several friends said in character statements.

But she said that didn’t mean he behaved the same way behind closed doors or when opportunity presented itself, and he chose who he was kind to.