Kevin Spacey trial: Oscar-winning actor appeared ‘panicked’ after ‘groping man he met in pub’

Kevin Spacey had a “panicked” look on his face after kissing a man on the neck and grabbing his crotch following a night-out at the pub, a court has heard.

The Oscar winner, 63, is facing allegations that he sexually assaulted four different men between 2001 and 2013, amid claims he is a “sexual bully” and a “predator”.

One of his accusers said Spacey unexpectedly joined him and friends for a night of drinking and socialising at a pub near Oxford.

Later, at a party at Spacey’s rented holiday home, the man said the Hollywood actor kissed his neck and groped him while saying: “Be cool, be cool”.

“I put my arm between us and pushed him against a wall”, the man said, in his police interview played at Southwark Crown Court.

“I said ‘I’m sorry man, I don’t bat for that team’. He had a panicked look on his face.”

The man said he stood still “in disbelief” before deciding to leave Spacey’s home.

He said he “became teary” in the immediate aftermath of the incident, which later became the subject of a “running joke” between friends.

“It was an aggressive come-on. It hadn’t harmed me. It stopped when I said stop, and as time went by it became an anecdote more than anything.

“It was a running joke – my claim to fame, that the same hand that held an Oscar had held my crotch.”

In his video-recorded interview, the man said Spacey joined him and friends at the pub, where they nicknamed him “K-Dog”.

“Everyone was sort of gravitating towards him, being a celebrity”, he said.

“I had seen his films and seen him. I actually quite admired his work.”

The man said Spacey “came across as a bit camper than I imagined”, he was wearing a baseball cap in a presumed attempt to minimise attention on him, and they spent the evening in the pub drinking and “getting to know him”.

“Gradually we asked him about some films and what certain people were like and things like that”, he said.

“He was quite open. He seemed more open with us than with other people who had come up and approached him.”

The man said Spacey was drinking double Jack Daniels and Cokes, and on a few occasions put his hand on his or a friend’s leg.

“We moved away or lifted his hand away”, he said.

At around 1.30am, the pub they were in closed and Spacey invited the group back to The Lakes by Yoo where he was staying.

The man said he was smoking and went to look for a coat to wear outside, and inadventently let Spacey’s dog loose from one of the rooms.

After shooing the dog back into the room, he said he “turned around and Kevin was about five yards away from me.

“I said ‘look I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to let your dog out’. I was just looking for a coat.

“He came towards me in a hugging motion, and said ‘don’t worry about it, it’s cool, it’s cool’.

“We had an awkward man hug. He hugged me and I did a pat on the back.

“At that point, he kissed down my neck twice and grabbed my crotch, and said the words ‘be cool, be cool’.”

The man said he rang his father after leaving the property, and said he was worried no one would believe him about the incident.

Asked by police why he had come forward in 2018, five years after the incident, he said: “I rang the non-emergency police number when it was brought out on the news that there was other incidents involving Kevin Spacey.”

The man added: “I stopped ever watching or purchasing anything he had been in or was involved in.”

Spacey, the star of films including American Beauty and The Usual Suspects, is accused of sexual assaults against three other men.

The court has heard from one man who says Spacey repeatedly grabbed his leg and crotch while he was driving, including one incident when he almost crashed the car while in shock.

His ex-girlfriend said the man told her “Spacey had behaved inappropriately and put his hand on his leg on occasions, and also grabbed his crotch”.

“He said he had shouted loudly at Spacey and I think he had to pull over and explain that was not on – not acceptable behaviour.

“He made it very obvious it was non-consensual, unwanted.

“He said he felt embarassed and shocked by the entire thing.”

Asked by Spacey’s barrister Patrick Gibbs KC whether the man may have said they were consensual interactions, she replied: “I would find it very hard to believe that would ever come out of his mouth.

“He is very straight.”

Another ex-girlfriend who was dating the man at the time of the alleged incidents, said he was “uncomfortable” when talking about Spacey touching him, and it damaged their romance.

“He wasn’t communicating with me how he felt and what had occurred.

“I had no idea, not really. He was very off with me, he wouldn’t call me as much. We met very rarely.

“I had to question if it was something I had done.”

She added: “It took a long time to build the relationship back up.”

Spacey, who has a home in Southwark, denies 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.

He says the allegations against him are the result of half-truths, exaggerations, and “damned lies”. The trial, at Southwark Crown Court, continues.