LONDON –
Kevin Spacey “strongly denies” allegations of sexual assault, his lawyer said on Thursday, while the Oscar-winning actor appeared in a London court to face five charges for crimes against three men.
Photographers and television crews gathered Spacey, 62, when he arrived at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court for a preliminary hearing.
Spacey sat on the glass dock during the half-hour hearing, standing to give his full name, Kevin Spacey Fowler, as well as his date of birth and a London address.
He was not asked to make a formal statement, but his lawyer, Patrick Gibbs, said: “Mr Spacey strongly denies any crime in this case.”
Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram granted Spacey an unconditional bail until his next appearance, a statement hearing scheduled for July 14.
The former “House of Cards” star is charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrating sexual activity without consent.
The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in the west of England in April 2013. The victims are now between 30 and 40 years old.
In a statement issued last month, Spacey said he would travel to Britain to face charges and was confident he would “prove my innocence”.
Spacey was questioned by British police in 2019 about the allegations of several men who had assaulted them. The two-time Oscar winner directed London’s Old Vic Theater between 2004 and 2015.
Spacey won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the 1999 film “American Beauty”.
But his celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.