Kevin Spacey has been ‘judged by social media’ and ‘dismissed’ after being accused of sexual harassment by accusers motivated by the ‘potential to profit off the bandwagon’, his barrister said today.
The double Oscar winner, 63, is accused of assaulting four men between 2001 and 2013 ‘for her own sexual gratification’.
Jurors heard throughout the trial that the House of Cards star was a ‘sexual bully’ who delighted in making his victims feel ‘powerless and uncomfortable’.
Defense barrister Patrick Gibbs, KC, told jurors at Southwark Crown Court: ‘A man who is promiscuous, a man who doesn’t come out but knows he is gay, wants to be a normal person with the opportunity to live a private life.
‘It makes you an easy target when the internet is against you, when you’re tried by social media. It was only when it was taken to the police, I suggest, that it was too easy to do and most likely to pay off the band wagon.’
Kevin Spacey (pictured arriving at his trial today) was falsely accused of sexual assault by three ‘liars’ and a man who ‘wasn’t quite sober’, Southwark Crown Court heard today.
Jurors heard throughout the trial that the House of Cards star (pictured centre, outside court today) was a ‘sexual bully’ who delighted in making his victims feel ‘powerless and uncomfortable’.
Mr Gibbs said: ‘Mr Spacey was not out at the time. Many gay people supported Mr. Spacey for not coming out.
‘When the rap story broke and Mr Spacey became an internet monster overnight, there was an ancient history lesson in the memory bank.’
An aspiring actor claims he woke up in August 2008 at the star’s Waterloo home to perform a sex act on Spacey after consuming beer, pizza and marijuana.
The complainant previously suggested that messages from her phone sent to Spacey after the event may have been sent by ‘malware’. The accused demanded about £500,000 from Spacey, Mr Gibbs said.
Mr Gibbs added, ‘You could say that the amount of money these people claimed was likely to play a significant role.’
In his closing speech, Mr Gibbs said: ‘There are three liars in this case. We can’t look into their brains with electrodes and know what they’re thinking.
‘Perhaps they know the lies they are telling. problem with [the fourth complainant’s] The proof is not that he’s a liar, but that he wasn’t quite as cool as he described – but no one was.’
He questioned the evidence provided by family and friends of the complainants, adding: ‘They directed the police to people they believed the stories they told would resonate faithfully and truthfully.
‘Be careful to keep this in mind when considering this strand of evidence. It is not independent but comes from the mouth of the complainant and therefore these incidents cannot be independently confirmed.
‘I’m not suggesting they’re liars, I’m suggesting they’re just making noise for what they’ve been told.’
Spacey (pictured outside court on Wednesday) has denied a total of nine charges, including seven allegations of sexual assault.
The double Oscar winner, 63, (pictured in a court sketch) is accused of assaulting four men between 2001 and 2013 ‘for his own sexual gratification’.
A man claims he was repeatedly assaulted by Spacey at his Windsor home in the early 2000s when he drove the star to one of Elton John’s white tie and tiara balls AIDS fundraisers.
Of the allegations, Mr Gibbs said: ’20 years had passed by the time he came to the police. Late complaints. We tried our best to answer all those years later, whether we succeeded is up to you.
‘What is most? [the man] The claims are so vague and so personal, that it is impossible to contradict them. And then what you’re left with is one word against another.
‘It turned out to be a complete fabrication. It’s that dramatic focal point, it grabs the crotch. Squeezing so hard caused so much pain that he almost broke the car.’
The lawyer told the court that it was ‘proven by the evidence, fiction’ which was ‘designed to dramatize and dignify a reconstruction long after all that had transpired between those two men’.
‘It is a fiction which insists that he never went through with the contact between the two of them, that he never consented to any kind of sexual touch.
‘It would show if it were true, wouldn’t it? And that suggests what I designed it to show.
‘That it was an abusive relationship involving varying degrees and ultimately violence and aggression. But the Crown now says of the allegations, “the date doesn’t matter”.
‘My retort is, they will say now, right? Because they didn’t rely on any date, every date is unverified.
‘So what date does the Crown’s case now matter? Because there is no date that works.’
Mr Gibbs said: ‘I don’t recommend it [the man] He’s gay, but I suggest he wouldn’t be the first person to meet a charismatic, persuasive admirer.
‘While he may have been embarrassed and confused by it, in a way that has to do with his girlfriend, personally it’s my suggestion that he doesn’t reject it.
‘Perhaps, I don’t know, I’m not a psychiatrist, he later had to recount what happened not only to his brother, but to himself, because it explained a confusing episode in an otherwise conventional life.
Two-time Oscar winner Glengarry has starred in Glenn Ross, Seven, LA Confidential and Baby Driver. He also starred in the Netflix series House of Cards
‘Perhaps it helped him to be angry about it. Now that Kevin Spacey has been canceled and people are asking him about it, he has the perfect opportunity.
‘He had the perfect opportunity to rewrite history in those simple terms: “I was abused by Kevin Spacey just as I see three other people identified by CPS.” It was the moment of greatest opportunity to do so.’
Spacey pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting a person without consent and one count of engaging in sexual activity against the first accused, between 1 January 2001 and 24 June 2005.
The double Oscar winner, 63, also denies two counts of sexually assaulting a second man on 20 March 2005 during a dress rehearsal for a charity event.
He also denies sexually assaulting an aspiring actor and forcing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity between 1 August 2008 and 31 August 2008 at his Waterloo apartment.
Spacey has denied sexually assaulting a fourth complainant on 1 April 2013 at his luxury holiday home in the Cotswolds.
He is said to have assaulted four men between 2001 and 2013 ‘for his own sexual gratification’.
Jurors heard the star was a ‘sexual bully’ who delighted in making his victims feel ‘powerless and uncomfortable’.
Southwark Crown Court heard Spacey committed the offenses by grabbing, squeezing and touching the genitals and buttocks of four of his victims over their clothing.
He denied a total of nine charges: seven counts of sexual assault, one count of engaging in sexual activity on a person without consent and one count of engaging in penetrative sexual activity on a person without consent.
Two-time Oscar winner Glengarry has starred in Glenn Ross, Seven, LA Confidential and Baby Driver. He also starred in the Netflix series House of Cards.
The trial continues, with the jury expected to retire to consider its verdict on Monday after Justice Wall finishes his summation.