Kevin Spacey Gets Emotional in London Sex Assault Trial Testimony, Says He Never Thought Accuser Would ‘Stab Me in the Back’

Kevin Spacey took the stand in London Thursday to defend himself against 12 counts of sexual assault brought by four men, getting emotional at one point as he described an “intimate” relationship with one whom he said he was “crushed” to find would accuse him two decades after their “somewhat sexual” interactions.

Spacey took a dramatic pause and began to choke up, saying “I never thought that (the man) I knew would … 20 years later stab me in the back,” the Associated Press reported.

The actor maintains homes in both London and New York, where late last year he was found not liable in a civil lawsuit brought by “Rent” actor Anthony Rapp. Spacey has pleaded not guilty in the U.K. criminal case, with accusers describing unwanted touching that escalated to aggressive and bullying advances.

One accuser testified that while he was driving, Spacey grabbed his crotch so hard that he nearly ran off the road. “That never happened,” Spacey told the court Thursday, according to the AP. “I was not on a suicide mission in any of those years.”

Instead, Spacey became “wistful” as he described their relationship, calling him “funny” and “charming” and even conceding that he initiated physical contact. “I’m a big flirt,” he said from the stand, but said it never went beyond mutual touching after the man told him he didn’t want that.

“He said things like, ‘This is new for me,’ so I think he may have been surprised by his reaction,” Spacey said. “The only thing he made clear was he didn’t want to go further than we were going and I respected that.”

The alleged victims, however, described a much more forceful and “bullying” tone. One said Spacey’s advances were “like a cobra coming out and getting hold.” Spacey said to describe his caresses that way was “madness,” undermining the man’s timeline of events and pointing out that the accuser still has photos of them together on his social media accounts.

Spacey remains free on bail during the trial and faces an undetermined jail sentence if convicted.

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