A United Kingdom court on Wednesday cleared Actor Kevin Spacey of all nine sexual charges levelled against him by four men, reported the BBC.
The actor was accused of sexually assaulting the men between 2001 to 2013. The prosecution had claimed that the 64-year-old actor had “aggressively” groped and had performed a sexual act on another man while he was asleep in Spacey’s house. Their encounter with Spacey had left the four complainants feeling “small, diminished and worthless”, the prosecutors alleged, reported the BBC.
Spacey, however, had claimed that three of the complainants only made their accusations in the hope of financial gain, reported The New York Times. He added that the actor’s promiscuous lifestyle made him an easy target for false allegations.
After the verdict was announced the Academy Award-winning actor told reporters outside the court that he was grateful to the jurors.
“I imagine that many of you can understand that there’s a lot for me to process,” he said, reported the newspaper. “I am enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence. I am humbled by the outcome.”
Last year, a New York court had also dismissed a sexual assault case against the actor filed on a complaint by another actor Anthony Rapp.
In 2017, Spacey’s Hollywood career had come to a halt after he was accused of sexual misonduct by number of complainants. The actor was soon dropped from Netflix show House of Cards and actor Christopher Plummer replaced him in the All the Money in the World weeks before the movie’s scheduled release.
In a recent interview with a Germany-based Zeit Magazin, Spacey expressed his intention of returning to acting. “I know that there are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges,” he said.
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