Kevin Spacey found not guilty in sexual assault case in London and is ‘humbled’ by acquittal

A London jury has found Kevin Spacey not guilty in a case that saw four men accuse the actor of sexual assault during a 13-year period.

A jury of nine men and three women deliberated for four weeks before finding the Oscar winner not guilty of nine charges, including several sexual assault charges and a charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The assault case was among several to arise against Spacey amid the #MeToo movement as the actor fell from grace and went largely without work since 2017.

The “American Beauty” actor who turned 64 on Wednesday cried as the last not guilty verdict was read. While addressing the press outside the courtroom, Spacey said he was grateful for the jury and was “humbled by the outcome.”

During the trial, jurors heard testimony from Spacey’s accusers, who alleged the Oscar winner leveraged his celebrity against them to keep them silent. Prosecutors painted the actor as “a sexual bully.” Spacey, who testified in his own defense, and his attorneys worked to discredit the four men, calling three of them “liars.” Last week, they called on singer Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, to take the witness stand to poke holes in one of the men’s allegations.

The charges against Spacey stemmed from the accusations of four men who alleged they were assaulted in separate incidents between 2001 and 2013. Spacey lived in London from 2004 to 2015 while he was working as artistic director at the Old Vic theater. The men came forward in 2017, joining nearly a dozen others who have accused the actor of sexual misconduct.

One of the men accused Spacey of forcibly grabbing his crotch while he drove the actor to an event at John’s home. A pair of men claimed Spacey had groped them during separate incidents, including a man at a charity event who said the actor had grabbed at his crotch area with such force that it felt “like a cobra” holding on to him. Another man accused Spacey of grabbing his genitals after the two met at a pub.

Spacey dismissed one of the fondling claims as “pure fantasy” and the claims of a fourth accuser as “a clumsy pass, and said the exchanges were consensual and “romantic.” Another man alleged that he went to Spacey’s home for mentorship and beer and stayed the night, only to wake up the next morning to find the actor performing oral sex on him.

In a separate New York civil case in 2022, a jury decided that Spacey had not molested actor Anthony Rapp in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and both were relatively unknown stage actors. The case, which arrived in 2017 as an outgrowth of the #MeToo movement, has been the highest-profile accusation against Spacey. Spacey lost roles in various projects, including that of Frank Underwood on the Emmy-winning Netflix show “House of Cards.”

Spacey, determined to keep working despite the allegations against him, has spent his time away from Hollywood writing scripts for theater pieces and short films. The actor says he is aware that some creators “are very afraid” to collaborate with him, but is confident other artists may pave the way for a comeback.

Even so, Spacey, who won Oscars for his performances in “American Beauty” and “The Usual Suspects,” has acted in smaller onscreen titles, including the forthcoming independent film “Control.” He also appeared in the films “Billionaire Boys Club” (2018) and “The Man Who Drew God” (2022).

Leading up to the London trial, Spacey said he was confident he could return to the spotlight once he was exonerated and said he knows people “who are ready to hire me.”

Times staff writers Christie D’Zurilla and Alexandra Del Rosario and the Associated Press contributed to this report.