LONDON – A man who met Kevin Spacey in a pub says that at one point when they were alone during a night of heavy drinking with others, the actor kissed his neck twice and grabbed his crotch.
The two-time Oscar winner looked panicked after he was pushed away and was told, “I am sorry, man, I don’t bat for that team,” the witness said.
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The man's interview with police was played Tuesday for jurors in Spacey's sexual assault trial in a London courtroom.
Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges that could send him to prison if he is convicted. His lawyer said Spacey denies all allegations of nonconsensual acts and suggested the accusers are looking for payouts from a wealthy star.
Allegations by four men from 2001 to 2013 while the American actor worked at the Old Vic Theatre include seven counts of sexual assault, three counts of indecent assault and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The witness, who can't be named under British court rules, said Spacey had invited him and others back to a house where the actor was staying in the Cotswolds to “carry on the party” after the pub closed. Spacey offered booze and marijuana, he said.
According to the witness, Spacey had been friendly as he drank double Jack Daniel's whiskey and colas at the pub with the man and his group of friends. As the drinks flowed, the group began calling the Hollywood star “K-Dawg,” the witness said.
The man said he hadn't thought much of Spacey's touchy-feely behavior at the bar when he had put his hands on the backs and legs of the man and his friends.
But he said he was shaken by what occurred later after he accidently let Spacey's dog out of the house while returning from smoking on the veranda. He testified that he managed to catch the little pooch and apologized to Spacey, who said not to worry and approached him in a “huggy” posture.
“We did an awkward man hug as I call it," the witness said. “He hugged me, I did a sort of pat on the back type of thing.”
Spacey then kissed his neck and grabbed his crotch and said, “Be cool, be cool,” the man testified.
He said that when he pushed Spacey away, the actor's eyes widened and he got an “immediate panicked look on his face.”
The witness said he left the house and called his father and told him about the unwanted touching on the drive home.
When Spacey was questioned by police about the allegation, he said that he did not recall kissing anyone's neck or grabbing a crotch and that he would not have done such a thing without an indication of consent, according to the prosecutor's opening statement.
Spacey said it was “entirely possible and indeed likely” he made a “clumsy pass” that he had forgotten and might have touched someone's crotch in the process, the prosecution said.
The prosecution said the actor indicated that he vaguely recognized a photo of the man and that he might have been among a group the actor was drinking with at the time.
The witness will be cross-examined Wednesday before a jury of nine men and three women in Southwark Crown Court.
Spacey, who has homes in the U.S. and London, is free on bail.