Kevin Spacey appeared at a London court on Thursday morning, setting the wheels in motion for the first criminal trial in the U.K. against the actor since allegations of sexual assault first broke in 2017.
With a media circus camped outside and journalists having already queued hours in advance for one of the limited spaces inside, Spacey, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and glasses, appeared at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court where he was expected to confirm his name and that he understood the four specific charges read out to him. He was also expected to have his bail set.
The four charges involve three counts of sexual assault against three men, two in March 2005, one in August 2008 and another in April 2013. In late May, the Crown Prosecution Service also detailed that there was one charge for “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent” in 2008.
Although Spacey’s whereabouts ahead of Thursday’s court date were unknown, he had claimed in a statement last month that he would “voluntarily appear” in person to defend himself against the charges that were authorized by U.K. authorities earlier in May.
Spacey’s court appearance, and an impending U.K. trial that is not expected to take place until at least 2023, marks the next chapter for the two-time Oscar winner, who in 2017 found himself accuses of numerous counts of sexually harassment and sexual assault in the wake of the MeToo movement. Following the allegations, which in the U.S. included the actor Anthony Rapp, who accused the actor of making sexual advances towards him in 1986 when Rapp was 14, Netflix cut ties with Spacey, removing him from the final season of House of Cards and shelving his film Gore. His role as J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott’s All The Money in the World was famously reshot with Christopher Plummer replacing him.
Source: HollyWood
