A few tears Kevin Spacey described himself as “humbled” after a jury in a London court on Wednesday exonerated him of committing multiple sex assaults against four men.
Spacey, who was also turning 64 on Wednesday, started crying and mouthed “thank you” to the nine men and three women who served on the jury before blotting his eyes with a tissue.
In the Southwark Crown Court lobby, the Hollywood star spoke with five of the jurors before leaving the structure to address a crowd of reporters and photographers.
After what had occurred today, “I imagine that many of you can understand that there’s a lot for me to process,” he remarked.
“I am humbled by today’s result.”
Additionally, he expressed his gratitude to the jury for taking the time to thoroughly consider all the facts and the evidence before making a judgment.
As Spacey proceeded to a waiting taxi, he was surrounded by cameras as some bystanders applauded and wished him a happy birthday. One woman shouted, “We love you, Kevin.”
Prosecutors said the actor a “sexual bully” who had aggressively grabbed three of the men and had oral sex with the fourth when he was unconscious in Spacey’s London apartment during the four-week trial.
Spacey stated his “world exploded” when he was initially accused of sexual assault by actor Anthony Rapp in 2017. Spacey won Oscars for best actor in “American Beauty” (1999) and best supporting actor in “The Usual Suspects” (1995).
Spacey claimed “there was a rush to judgment” after Buzzfeed published an article on Rapp’s allegations. He continued, “Before the first question was asked or answered, I lost my job, I lost my reputation, I lost everything, in a matter of days.”
Following the revelation of the allegations, he was fired from both “House of Cards” on TV and “All the Money in the World” on film.
Rapp, who claimed that Spacey made an unwanted sexual attempt toward him in 1986 when he was 14 years old, filed a civil action against the actor in the United States, but he was unsuccessful in the case last year.
During the #MeToo movement, Spacey became one of several well-known figures in entertainment who were accused of sexual misconduct.
The Old Vic said in 2017 that it had received 20 different claims of inappropriate behavior and that it had opened an investigation.
The London jury heard multiple allusions to Spacey’s colleagues actors and celebrities, including Val Kilmer and Judi Dench, who the court heard had liked playing table tennis with Spacey. This was to be expected for the trial of a Hollywood star.
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