Kevin Spacey is fighting back. After former teenage busboy accused the actor of engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior with him, Spacey alleged in court that the accuser sought after him. The actor did not deny groping him, however.
Spacey, 59, arrived in Nantucket District Court in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Monday. He appeared in regards to a court filing that stemmed from an allegation from a July 2016 incident involving former Boston news anchor Heather Unruh's son. Her child, who was 18 at the time, was allegedly groped by Spacey when he was working as a busboy at Club Car.
In a motion obtained by Daily Mail on Tuesday, the House of Cards alum rejected many of the accuser's accusations. The actor alleged that the former busboy "claimed he was a 23-year-old student studying business at Wake Forest University." He also suggested the teenager "sought out a friend for the specific purpose of introducing him to [Spacey]."
Spacey's motion appeared to suggest the pair's exchanges were "mutual." At the time, Spacey claimed the teen "welcomed drinks from [Spacey], let [Spacey] put his arm around him near the piano while they did sing-a-longs and even left the bar to smoke with [Spacey]." He also apparently gave Spacey his phone number.
During Monday's 10-minute hearing, Spacey pleaded not guilty to the felony charge of indecent assault and battery. If found guilty, the two-time Academy Award winner could face up to five years behind bars.
"The victim, my son, was a star-struck, straight, 18-year-old young man who had no idea that the famous actor was an alleged sexual predator or that he was about to become his next victim," Unruh said during a November 2017 news conference. "This was a criminal act."
Allegations against Spacey came in the early days of the #MeToo through a BuzzFeed News exposé on October 2017. The report featured allegations from Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of coming onto him at 14. The accusation, which followed an exposé The New York Times released on disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, led to more men coming forward with allegations against Spacey—Unruh's son, included. Spacey was eventually fired from his Netflix series, pulled from Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World and his planned Netflix movie, Gore.
Ahead of news about his January arraignment breaking on Christmas Eve, Spacey shared a YouTube video to Twitter that suggested he was innocent. In "Let Me Be Frank," he appeared as his House of Cards character Frank Underwood.
"I showed you exactly what people are capable of. I shocked you with my honestly, but mostly I challenged you and made you think. And you trusted me, even though you knew you shouldn't," he said. "So we're not done, no matter what anyone says."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
