Kevin Spacey Charged With Four Counts of Sexual Assault in U.K.

K.J. Yossman

Kevin Spacey has been charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.”

The decision was unveiled Thursday by the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which has spent over a year reviewing a file passed to them by the Metropolitan Police.

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“The CPS has authorized criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men,” said Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division. “He has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The charges follow a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation. The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr Spacey are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”

The alleged incidents took place in London and Gloucestershire between 2005 and 2013. Spacey’s served as artistic director of the Old Vic theater in London from 2004-2015. Following a cascade of sexual assault allegations against the actor in the U.S., the theater undertook an internal investigation which, according to the BBC, resulted in 20 victims coming forward who claimed he had behaved inappropriately toward them.

Spacey also continues to fight a $31 million arbitration claim related to his time on “House of Cards.” Spacey was fired from the former flagship Netflix show following Rapp’s allegations. In 2020, MRC, which produced the show, won an arbitration ruling saying the actor owed them $31 million in lost profits as a consequence of Spacey’s removal from the show. (Variety’s owner, Penske Media, owns a joint venture with Media Rights Capital called PMRC).

In January this year, Spacey attempted to block the arbitration award by filing a request in civil court for a judge to set aside the arbitration ruling.

It is unclear whether Spacey will submit himself to the authorities in London following the charges. His whereabouts in recent years have been something of a mystery, although in 2019 he was formally interviewed as a suspect by the Metropolitan police in the U.S., according to the Daily Mail. In August 2019, he unexpectedly turned up to give a poetry reading at a museum in Rome. Two years later, he was cast in his first project since his dismissal from “House of Cards,” a supporting role in “L’umo Che Disegno Dio” (The Man Who Drew God), from Italian director Franco Nero.

Earlier this month, Spacey appeared to be attempting a comeback after two films starring the actor — “Peter Five Eight” and “Gateway to the West” — were shopped around at Cannes. It’s likely any comeback will now be put on hold as he turns his attention to his latest legal battle.

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