One of Kevin Spacey’s accusers says he is a “creepy” Hollywood star who regularly groped him before laughing about the abuse, a court heard.
The man told police he was sexually assaulted around 12 times by Spacey at times when they were alone together, dubbing the star a “predator” and suggesting he had tried to “groom me”.
He said the “touchy feely” star regularly rubbed his neck when he was driving, and sometimes reached across to grab his leg and crotch.
In his police interview, he described Spacey as “slippery, snakey”, and said the incidents left him unable to watch Spacey’s films and hit TV series House of Cards.
“I can’t watch anything with him in”, he told police. “I can’t stand watching the man. It makes me feel sick to even think about him now.”
He also referenced Spacey’s turn as a serial killer in the film Seven, saying: “The character in that, he’s a bit like that, a bit creepy. Maybe not quite as bad.”
The man, who cannot be identified, says the Oscar-winning actor smacked his backside in one alleged incident, and once forced the man’s hand on to Spacey’s genitals when they took a lift together.
He twice suggested Spacey had attempted to “groom” him with his behaviour, and said others knew of the actor’s behaviour.
“If a new apprentice had come in - a good-looking boy - they would say ‘you better be careful’. It was well-known he was up to no good”, he said.
Recalling the first alleged incident, the man said he felt “shock and horror” when he was groped.
“I think the first time he touched me was just a massive shock”, he said.
“I immediately pushed his hand off me.”
In his police interview, he recalled an incident on a drive to a party hosted by Sir Elton John when he says Spacey grabbed his genitals so hard that he almost crashed the car.
“He grabbed me so hard I almost came off the road”, he said. “He hit me right in the nuts - it took my breath away.”
He said Spacey was “laughing, giggling” afterwards, in an incident which left him “disgusted” and threatening Spacey that he would “knock you out” if he did it again.
The man said the incidents with Spacey were “very strange and made me feel so awkward, so uneasy”.
He suggested the star was “angry inside” and “completely messed up with his own sexuality”.
And he added that the actor offered to introduce him to A-list stars after some of the alleged abuse.
Speaking to police, the man said: “I would like to report to the police the incidents which happened with Kevin Spacey.
He said there were “multiple occasions, up to 12 times, he assaulted me when I was with him, in his company.
“He grabbed me in private areas, and then tried to get my hands on him, just at different times, in the car, in lifts.
“Every time we became alone over the years, on multiple occasions, he would try and grope me, grab me, and make me feel very very uncomfortable.”
He added: “You don’t forget incidents like that - I can remember it as clear as day.”
He told police he believed Spacey was “grooming me to try and get information on me, to see if I might swing a bit, if I was a little bit gay. I would say that’s what was in his head at the time.”
Calling Spacey a “predator”, the man said his “heart used to sink” whenever he came across the actor.
He also told police he “kept shtum” about the abuse at the time, partly out of embarrassment, but has come forward now to report incidents of alleged abuse years ago after hearing about allegations about Spacey in the US.
Patrick Gibbs KC, defending Spacey, questioned whether the incidents in the car had felt “naughty” and “exciting” to the man.
“As I’ve said to the jury, I’m a man’s man. I had a beautiful woman at home at the time”, he replied.
“It wasn’t naughty, it was disgusting. Not nice at all.”
He told the court he is “not a confused type of person”, and insisted Spacey’s then-secret homosexuality was not a factor in his reaction.
“What happened in the car between you and Mr Spacey was something you were ashamed of”, said Mr Gibbs, suggesting the man “didn’t always snatch your hand back” and “didn’t always tell him to stop”.
Denying that was true, the man said: “I certainly wasn’t aroused. The opposite. Potentially he was aroused. Why else would someone do that if it wasn’t to get arousal.”
He added: “I still feel shame about it now.”
The man challenged Mr Gibbs’ line of questioning, saying: “You are making it out that there was something going on. 100 per cent, one million per cent, it weren’t. In his mind, maybe.”
He was also asked whether he had considered suing Spacey over his claims of sexual abuse, and said he came forward after hearing Spacey had been charged by the UK police.
“It was a big part of coming forward. Strength in numbers, isn’t it?”
Asked how much compensation he would seek, the man replied: “Whatever it would be, it probably won’t be enough, for someone who has been assaulted and abused.”
Asked if he “saw a bandwagon coming along and decided to hop on board”, he replied: “That is not true at all. I could really do without all of this stress.”
He continued: “It was the fact that it was in the news and it was all coming back to me.
“It made me have those feelings that I had then, thinking actually some others have been brave enough to come forward. It was time to step up and tell the truth as well.
“It is just to tell the truth.”
Spacey faces 12 charges of sexual misconduct against four men between 2001 and 2013.
One says he was groped at a charity event, a young actor has accused Spacey of performing oral sex on him while he was asleep, and another man says the star grabbed hold of his genitals at a holiday home in the Cotswolds.
Prosecutor Christine Agnew KC called Spacey a “sexual bully” and “predator” as she opened the case to the jury on Friday.
“He is…a man who does not respect personal boundaries or space, a man who it would seem de-lights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable”, she said.
Spacey denies all the charges, and through his barrister told the court that the allegations are a mixture of “half-truths”, “deliberate exaggerations” and “damned lies”.
In police interview, Spacey said he was “baffled and deeply hurt” by allegations made by the driver. He accused the man of seeking money and having “reimagining their time together”.
Spacey was charged in May 2022 following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.
He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent assault, seven counts of sexual assault, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and one allegation of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The trial, at Southwark Crown Court, continues.
