Kevin Spacey Avoids Default Judgment in Sexual Assault Civil Suit After Lawyer ‘Error’
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Kevin Spacey’s lawyers were in court in London Tuesday, May 7, cleaning up a mistake that would’ve left the actor facing a default judgment declaring him liable in a civil sexual assault suit, Variety reports.
Spacey’s attorneys successfully overturned the default judgment, setting the stage for a trial that will likely take place in 2025 (an exact date hasn’t been announced yet). The civil suit was filed by a man, who claims he “suffered psychiatric damage and other financial loss” after Spacey sexually assaulted him in Aug. 2008.
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While Spacey’s accuser in the civil suit remains anonymous, he was one of the four men involved in Spacey’s criminal trial in the U.K. last year (per Reuters). During the criminal trial, the man testified that Spacey performed oral sex on him while he was sleeping and without his consent.
The anonymous accuser filed his civil suit against Spacey in July 2022, but it was put on hold until the conclusion of the criminal trial. After that case ended with Spacey’s acquittal on all charges, the actor’s lawyers failed to file his defense in the civil suit on time. That prompted the judge to hand down a default judgment in favor of Spacey’s accuser earlier this year, which would’ve sent the case immediately to the damages phase if it’d been upheld.
In court Tuesday, Spacey’s lawyer, Adam Speker, said they missed the filing date because of a “genuine error.” He went on to argue that the default judgment was unfair and should be overturned because the accuser had already been “disbelieved on oath by a jury.”
The judge in the case agreed, acknowledging that Spacey’s lawyers had made a “serious and significant” error, but adding: “In my view, that error should not be visited upon the defendant… The interests of justice require the allegations go forward to trial and the judgment in default be lifted.”
Spacey has faced more than a dozen accusations of sexual assault or misconduct, all of which he’s denied. He’s also repeatedly emerged unscathed from various court proceedings, including last year’s U.K. criminal trial and a civil suit brought by the actor Anthony Rapp in 2022. Last year, Spacey paid $1 million to settle arbitration on his alleged sexual harassment of crew members on House of Cards.
The allegations against Spacey have received renewed attention because of a new two-part documentary, Spacey Unmasked, which premiered on the British broadcaster, Channel 4 earlier this month. In an interview, Spacey called the allegations in the documentary, “utter nonsense.”
Amidst all this, the actor also announced that he was endorsing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s third-party bid for president.
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