Kevin Spacey trial: Elton John testifies for defence at sex assault trial
British rock star Elton John has given evidence as a witness for the defence at the sexual assault trial of disgraced Hollywood star Kevin Spacey.
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Sir Elton John appeared as a defence witness in Kevin Spacey’s sex assault trial on Monday, local time, with the singer’s husband David Furnish also called to give evidence as the pair appeared separately via videolink from Monaco.
Spacey laughed during the testimony of Sir Elton, who gave his name as “Elton Hercules John”, about Spacey’s attendance at a charity ball he hosted in the 2000, according to reports from the court.
One alleged victim claims Oscar-winning actor Spacey grabbed his genitalia as they made their way to Sir Elton’s home in Windsor for the £1 million (A$1.92m) White Tie and Tiara Ball.
Furnish, who was first to give evidence, said he remembered Spacey’s presence at the social event.
“He was an Oscar-winning actor, there was a lot of excitement he was at the ball,” Furnish told the jury.
Sir Elton told Southwark Crown Court in London he recalled Spacey’s arrival at the event in 2001 because “he arrived in a white tie”, The Sun reported.
The Rocket Man singer said he “came on a private jet and he came straight to the ball”.
When asked whether Spacey came directly from the plane, smiling Sir Elton added: “I assume so, yes. I don’t think he was wearing white tie on a commercial flight.”
Prosecutor Christine Agnew replied: “One never knows, I suppose.”
Sir Elton said Spacey, 63, stayed overnight after the bash but “can’t remember him coming down after that”.
He was also asked about a photo of the alleged victim holding an umbrella outside a London theatre as he left on another occasion.
The knighted star, 76, said he did not recognise the man and would not have noticed him at the time as it was “always a mad rush” to get to his car when he left a venue with photographers outside.
He added: “They could be the Queen and I don’t notice.”
Spacey later wept as character references were read out on his behalf by fellow celebrity supporters
Dead Poets Society actor Robert Sean Leonard told how the disgraced House of Cards star helps elderly actors in a US nursing home.
He added: “He doesn’t advertise this passion. He wouldn’t. He just does it.”
While Chris Lemmon, son of the late Some Like It Hot star Jack Lemmon, said: “I have attended many parties with Kevin. I have never witnessed any untoward behaviour in my 30 years with him.”
Sir Elton was called to trial just a few months after he was summoned to the Royal Courts of Justice in London with Prince Harry who were among several claimants in a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail.
Spacey is accused of attacking four men in charges dating back as far as 22 years.
During the trail, Spacey has been accused of being a “sexual bully” and on Monday, jurors heard how he was “turned on” by his alleged victims getting angry at him and believed they would not come forward due to his fame.
He “abused the power and influence that his reputation and fame afforded him” to target the four men, the court was told.
Spacey also allegedly took advantage of his “popularity and prominence, his illustriousness and influence” to take “what and who he wanted when he wanted”, it is said.
Jurors heard the four alleged victims were aged in their 20s or 30s when they “attracted the attention” of the star.
Despite not wanting to be “touched”, Spacey didn’t “care very much for their feelings” and “aggressively” groped them anyway, it was said.
Spacey pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, in January.
The star also denies four charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
Spacey was stripped of an International Emmy Award in the wake of the claims.
His central character in acclaimed Netflix series House of Cards was also killed off after he was axed from the show.
The trial continues.
‘CRUSHED’; ‘MADNESS’: SPACEY SLAMS CLAIMS
Spacey has said he is “crushed” by the allegations made by one of the men who has accused him of sexual assault, while the actor called another complainant’s claims “madness”.
The Oscar winner is facing 12 charges of sexual assault involving four men from 2001 to 2013. Spacey denies all of the charges.
One of the complainants alleges that Spacey touched him while he drove him to a party in the early 2000s.
Taking the stand on Thursday local time, Spacey told the jury that touching the complainant was “in my mind romantic” and denied assaulting him, adding that he was “somewhat intimate” with the alleged victim.
Spacey also said he had developed a “flirtatious relationship” with the complainant and he touched the man in “romantic” and “intimate” ways. “Yeah, I am a big flirt,” he told the court.
“It did not happen in a violent, aggressive, painful way,” he said. “It was gentle … and it was, in my mind, romantic.”
Spacey told the court he didn’t take things to the next level because the alleged victim “made it clear that he did not want to go any further”.
The actor also said he was “crushed” by the allegations made by the complainant. “I never thought the [name of man] I knew over 20 years later would stab me in the back,” he said.
The man accused Spacey gof grabbing his genitalia so hard while he was driving that he almost drove off the road.
Denying that ever happened, Spacey said that he was “not on a suicide mission” during the time the complainant alleges the incident took place.
Spacey
was asked about allegations made by another of the complainants, who alleged an incident took place in a London theatre.
The complainant alleged that Spacey grabbed his penis “like a cobra coming out and getting hold” and directed a “barrage of vile comments” of a sexual nature toward him.
The alleged victim said Spacey “smelled of booze” and grabbed him with “such force it was really painful,” adding: “It was aggressive. It wasn’t trying to be a seduction. It was angry.”
Spacey denied the allegations, calling them “madness”, because “it never happened.”
“I never said any of the things that he claims I said to him, and wouldn’t. And never have to anyone in my life,” he said.
The incident is said to have happened at a theatre event he was asked to get involved in by his “dear friend” Dame Judi Dench. “I would do nothing to ever embarrass her, or to embarrass myself in such a way,” he told the court.
Spacey was also shown a photo containing the complainant and was asked if he recognised him, to which he said he did not.
During the trial, jurors have heard allegations of “aggressive” crotch grabs by three men, while one of them also alleged the actor kissed his neck and told him to “be cool” while at a property where Spacey was staying.
A fourth complainant accused Spacey of having drugged him and performing a sex act on him while he was asleep, per BBC News.
The alleged victims have described Spacey as “slippery”, “disgusting” and a “vile sexual predator” during their evidence.
Spacey, meanwhile, said, “I lost my reputation, I lost everything in a matter of days,” in regard to when allegations were first brought against him.
He also said, with some exceptions, that he hasn’t been able to work for the past six years.
SPACEY ‘BAFFLED’ BY ALLEGATIONS
On Wednesday, the court heard Spacey “did not grab anyone’s penis”, or perform a sex act on a man without consent, in police interviews read to jurors at his sexual assault trial in the UK.
Details from his police interviews were read to jurors at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday as the prosecution closed its case against the Hollywood actor.
The defence for Spacey, who denies 12 sexual offence charges, will begin tomorrow.
The award-winning actor, 63, is on trial in London accused of a string of sexual offences against several men dating back more than 20 years. Four men testified in the past two weeks that the Oscar winner preyed on them.
Jurors heard the House Of Cards and American Beauty star, now 63, gave five police interviews voluntarily, in London and New York, during which the separate allegations by the four complainants were put to him.
In one interview, Spacey told detectives he had had “numerous consensual one-night stands” during his time in the UK and conceded he may made a “clumsy pass” towards one of his alleged victims, but vehemently denied any sexual encounters that were not consensual.
During the trial, the court has heard from all four accusers – who have variously described the star as a “vile sexual predator”, “slippery”, and “atrocious, despicable, disgusting”. One described his behaviour as “like he thought he could groom me”.
Referring to claims made by a driver, the first alleged victim to give evidence during the trial, Spacey told police he was “baffled” by the allegations.
In another interview dealing with claims made by the second accuser to give evidence, who told the court the two-time Oscar winner assaulted him just hours after meeting him at a countryside pub, Spacey said it was “entirely possible” he might have made a “pass”, but added: “I have certainly never attempted to grab anyone’s crotch while making a pass.”
Spacey told police he had no recollection of the third alleged victim to give evidence, a man who accused the star of subjecting him to a “barrage” of “vile” sexual comments before grabbing his crotch “like a cobra” while at a celebrity theatre event.
“I certainly did not grab anyone’s penis, let alone with force,” the actor said in his statement.
The fourth of Spacey’s alleged victims, none of whom can be named for legal reasons, said he had been warned that the star liked “young straight men”. But he said he did not know at that point that he was a “predator”. The prosecution in the case alleges that Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner, was a “sexual bully” who delighted in making others uncomfortable.
In a police interview played to the court, the fourth complainant said he was left in tears when he rejected the star’s advances at the actor’s flat.
‘INCREDIBLY WEIRD’
He told a police officer he had not left when Spacey had put his head in his crotch because of the actor’s reputation and status.
“You just don’t want to annoy someone who’s that powerful in the business you’re trying to break into,” he said.
“The social sway he had was massive,” he added, stressing that nothing that happened was consensual.
The pair met up after the complainant wrote a letter to him asking for help, and was surprised when he invited him for a beer.
They shared pizza and smoked cannabis together before Spacey made advances, which he described as “incredibly weird” and left him nervous.
He recalled how he fell asleep, only to wake up about four or five hours later with his zip undone and Spacey performing a sex act.
When he said “no”, Spacey stopped and asked him to leave, he added. “He said I shouldn’t talk to anyone about what had happened,” he told the officer.
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