Elton John has told a court that Kevin Spacey attended a charity ball at his home and stayed overnight after arriving by private jet.
The singer also quipped that he was always in a “mad rush” when leaving West End theatres, saying: “It could be the queen and I wouldn’t notice her.”
John, 76, was called as a defence witness in Spacey’s trial and gave evidence to Southwark crown court via video link from Monaco on Monday.
Spacey denies all charges including sexual assault and indecent assault against four men in their 20s and 30s between 2001 and 2013.
He wept in the dock on Monday as he listened to 10 character references from family and friends in the theatre and film industry, including words from Chris Lemmon, the son of the late actor Jack Lemmon.
One complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has claimed he was driving Spacey to a party hosted by John and his husband, David Furnish, when Spacey grabbed his penis with such force that he almost crashed.
Spacey has denied assaulting the man on the way to the white tie and tiara ball, saying: “No, I was not on a suicide mission in any of those years.”
Wearing a dark suit, open-necked shirt and orange-tinted glasses, John told the court he did not recognise a photograph of the complainant.
During cross-examination by the prosecutor, Christine Agnew KC, the musician was asked if he remembered Spacey attending the ball, which raised funds for the Elton John Aids Foundation, in the early 2000s.
John, who gave his name to the court as “Elton Hercules John”, said: “Yes, because he arrived in white tie, he came on a private jet and came straight to the ball.”
Agnew asked him to confirm if Spacey had flown in by private jet and John joked: “I believe so. I don’t think he was wearing white tie on a commercial flight.”
“One never knows,” the prosecutor responded.
John, who struggled to hear the questions over the video link and had to have them repeated by a lawyer in the room in Monaco, said Spacey stayed at the couple’s home after the ball. “On the night he attended the ball he stayed overnight at our house,” he said.
During the trial, jurors have heard that Spacey bought “the most expensive Mini Cooper ever” at an auction at the ball and stored it at the couple’s home.
John was asked if he remembered Spacey coming to collect the car, to which he responded: “I can’t remember him coming down after that, no.”
He was asked about a picture of himself leaving the Victoria Palace theatre in London after a performance of Billy Elliot. John told jurors: “I’m looking straight forward at my car there. When I come out of the theatre, it’s always a mad rush to get into the car. Anyone who is on my periphery, I wouldn’t notice them. It could be the queen and I wouldn’t notice her.”
Furnish also gave evidence via video link from Monaco, saying he remembered Spacey attending the ball – which was sponsored by OK! magazine – on one occasion. The possibility of Spacey attending the ball on more than one occasion has formed part of the evidence at the trial.
Agnew asked Furnish, 60, if it was possible that the celebrities attending the charity event could ask not to be photographed. He said: “It never happened. It was understood we were promoting a charity involving the eradication of stigma surrounding disease. For celebrities wanting to come to our event, it was always understood they needed to be photographed.”
He added: “To have a star of the magnitude of Kevin Spacey and to go to OK! and say he didn’t want to be photographed, that would be an impossible situation for the foundation to be in.” He said there was “a lot of buzz and excitement” that the award-winning actor was attending the ball.
Wearing a grey suit and blue shirt, Spacey appeared emotional and dabbed his eyes as his barrister, Patrick Gibbs KC, read out character references from his friends and family.
The actor Robert Sean Leonard, who appears in the Oscar-nominated film Dead Poets Society, said Spacey was “kind and respectful” to everyone he worked with.
“He’s more than a successful actor, he’s a movie star, but unlike every other movie star I’ve worked with, he doesn’t know it,” said Leonard, 54. “Stardom was never his goal. He loves and respects the work, and he loves and respects the people he works with.
“In the US there are elderly homes set up to home actors in their declining years. Over the years he has spent many, many hours sitting with elderly actors, comforting and listening to them. He’s been doing it for many years and he doesn’t advertise this passion; he would not, he just does it.”
Spacey denies 12 charges: seven of sexual assault, three of indecent assault, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The trial continues.
