Kevin Spacey: Sexual Assault Case Against House of Cards Star Dropped
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Massachusetts prosecutors have dropped a sexual assault case against Kevin Spacey, the New York Post reports.
The former House of Cards star had been charged with indecent assault and battery for allegedly groping an 18-year-old man in 2016. In a document filed Wednesday, Dukes County District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said that the case would not proceed “due to the unavailability of the complaining witness.”
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Spacey’s accuser appeared in court earlier this month but invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked about deleting messages from his phone that might have indicated he consented to Spacey’s actions. The accuser’s family also dropped a civil case against the actor, citing the “emotional roller coaster” they’ve been on, and stated that there was no settlement with the Golden Globe-winning actor.
The Massachusetts man’s allegations echoed Star Trek: Discovery star Anthony Rapp’s, who in October 2017 went public with an accusation that Spacey had made an inappropriate advance at him when he was 14. “I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually,” Rapp said. Spacey later released a statement saying he was “beyond horrified to hear [Rapp’s] story,” adding, “I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.”
House of Cards had been cancelled ahead of the allegations coming to light, and Netflix maintained that the decision was made without knowledge of the accusations against the series’ leading man. Production on the sixth season of the series was halted as reports of Spacey’s engaging in sexual assault and harassment on set began to surface. Spacey was fired in November 2017 — with his character, Frank, getting killed off — and the show’s final season was retooled to focus on Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood.
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