“My world exploded,” Spacey had testified about the aftermath of the allegations. “There was a rush to judgment and before the first question was asked or answered I lost my job, I lost my reputation, I lost everything in a matter of days.”
Kevin Spacey was acquitted of sexual assault on Wednesday after the Oscar winner’s testimony as a witness in his own defense spared him a possible prison term and gave him a shot at a career comeback.
Tears rolled down Spacey’s cheeks as the final “not guilty” verdict was read. It was his 64th birthday.
Spacey’s wide-ranging testimony included him choking up as he spoke of the six years he’d gone without work after sex abuse allegations surfaced against him during the #MeToo movement in the U.S. in 2017.
“My world exploded,” Spacey testified. “There was a rush to judgment and before the first question was asked or answered I lost my job, I lost my reputation, I lost everything in a matter of days.”
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.
Spacey 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.
