Kevin Spacey Found Not Guilty Of Sexual Assault; Immediately Kisses Strangers

A reminder of what #MeToo was really about.

Actor Kevin Spacey was just cleared of charges and put on a dramatic display both inside and just outside of the courtroom (of course). Read through the details and then I’ll tell you some stories. As reported by Newser:

Jul 26, 2023 9:35 AM CDT

A London jury acquitted Kevin Spacey on sexual assault charges on Wednesday after a four-week trial in which the actor said he was a "big flirt" who had consensual flings with men, and whose only misstep was touching a man's groin while making a "clumsy pass." In what the Guardian calls "one of the UK's most high-profile #MeToo trials," three men accused the Oscar winner of aggressively grabbing their crotches. A fourth, an aspiring actor seeking mentorship, said he awoke to the actor performing oral sex on him after going to Spacey's London apartment for a beer and either falling asleep or passing out. The Guardian reports Spacey began to weep as the verdict was read.

All the men said the contact was unwanted, but Spacey testified that the young actor and another man had willingly participated in consensual acts. He said a third man's allegation that he grabbed his privates like a striking "cobra" backstage at a theater was "pure fantasy." He said he didn't remember a fourth incident at a small party at a home he rented in the country but accepted that he touched the groin of a man he'd met at a pub during a night of heavy drinking. He said he had misread the man's interest in him and that he'd probably made an awkward pass, reports the AP.

Spacey, who turned 64 on Wednesday, faced nine charges, including multiple counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The accusations date from 2001 to 2013 and include a period when Spacey had returned to the theater, his first love. During most of that period he was artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre in London. The men came forward after an American actor accused Spacey of an incident of sexual misconduct as the #MeToo movement heated up in 2017. A New York jury last year swiftly cleared Spacey in a $40 million lawsuit by Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp on allegations dating back three decades.

UPDATE Jul 26, 2023 9:35 AM CDT

Kevin Spacey didn't just get emotional inside a London courtroom Wednesday when he was acquitted of sexual assault. Spacey shook the hands of several jurors on his way out of the building and kissed two security guards on the cheek before making a statement, per the New York Times. "I imagine that many of you can understand that there's a lot for me to process," he said. "I'm enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence. ... And I am humbled by the outcome."

With an opportunity to really embrace his sociopathic tendencies, he decided to kiss the security guards as if to let everyone know that he is untouchable.

How He Got His Start

The iconic NYC theatre district restaurant Sardi’s—known for wining and dining many a Broadway producer, writer and performer even to this day—had long been known as a place to network heading into the 1980’s. A clever up-and-coming actor named Kevin Spacey did his homework and understood that producers had their regular tables on certain days of the week. As the story goes, Spacey would take a producer out for a meal and keep tabs on who else sat in the room. When he saw someone whose radar he wanted to get on, Spacey would send items over to their table. That person would certainly know the producer accompanying Spacey, but their curiosity would be piqued by the young man sitting with them.

The Rumors

Over a decade ago, I heard credible stories of Spacey pinning actors against walls backstage. The idea that all of these encounters were consensual like he claims is ludicrous, because some of his targets were straight men. When I heard the exact same stories pop up in 2017, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest. For a long time, these types of stories got buried for fear of retaliation from powerful people. Eventually, too many people connected over the same grievances and something had to give.

Enter: #MeToo

At the end of 2018, Spacey would release a video to defend himself in the form of a creepy monologue as his famous character Frank Underwood from House of Cards. You can almost taste the arrogance as you watch.

And he got away with it. He’s a bit more charming than Harvey Weinstein I suppose—a bit more useful.

I’ll let actress Rose McGowan explain to you exactly what #MeToo was really about. If you haven’t seen this short clip before, you’re in for a treat. It’s one of the best moments in mainstream news history.