Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault case involves an “enormous power imbalance” and a man who is “used to getting his own way,” prosecutor Christine Agnew told jurors this afternoon as the actor’s trial in London began to wind down.
Jurors heard Agnew’s closing arguments on Wednesday, which came after a series of harrowing testimonies over the past four weeks from Spacey’s alleged victims. The actor has pleaded not guilty to nine charges of sexual offenses, including multiple counts of sexual and indent assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
Agnew suggested in her closing speech that the trial was a result of Spacey’s “aggressive, oppressive, and intimidatory behavior.”
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“Four separate men...told friends and relations what happened to them, then told police, then came to court to tell their accounts,” Agnew said, per Variety. “Are they all motivated by ‘money, money, money’ as you were dramatically told by the defendant when he gave his evidence? Or have they just had enough and are no longer prepared to be the ‘secret keeper’ for someone who treated them so badly?”
“The glare of spotlight when someone is internationally famous places another burden [on them],” Agnew continued. “Kevin Spacey Fowlery is and was a powerful man. Famous. Who would believe them? It would have ruined their lives.”
“He is undoubtedly someone who is kind to those he chooses to be kind to,” she added. “History is littered with those who are benevolent to some and cruel to others.”
Earlier this month, jurors in the trial were played a police interview conducted with one of Spacey’s accusers in which the alleged victim said that the actor had told him to “be cool” while fondling his crotch.
“He kissed my neck twice and grabbed my crotch,” the accuser, who said he met Spacey at a pub, told police. “He said the words ‘be cool, be cool’ twice. I put my arm between us and pushed him against a wall. I said ‘I am sorry, I don’t bat for that team.’”
Jurors also heard testimony from another man who said that Spacey asked him, “Is it true what they say about Black men, do you like it outside?” The accuser also said that Spacey seized his genitals with “such force it was painful.”
This is Spacey’s second major trial involving sexual misconduct claims. Last October, a jury in the U.S. found him not liable for battery in a civil suit tied to allegations from Rent actor Anthony Rapp, who was one of the first people to publicly accuse Spacey in 2017.
Rapp told The Daily Beast earlier this month: “A trial is a harrowing experience for victims of abuse, and I sincerely hope these men are served with the proper outcome: that Kevin Spacey is punished for his crimes.”
