Kevin Spacey's Lawyer Denies Actor Paid Money to Dead Man's Family to Settle Sexual Assault Suit
Kevin Spacey is no longer being sued for sexually assaulting a masseur following his accuser’s death.
The former House of Cards actor, 60, was accused of sexual battery, gender violence, battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment by the alleged victim John Doe, a massage therapist, in 2017. Spacey denied the allegations.
A trial was set to take place in federal court in June 2020, however, on Monday, that case was dismissed after the accuser reportedly died of cancer, on Sept. 6 and his estate filed a notice for dismissal, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
The outlets reported that the case was settled outside of court. However, the actor’s lawyer says this is not the case.
“Contrary to some news reports, Mr. Spacey paid no money to ‘settle’ the lawsuit,” Spacey’s attorney, Jennifer L. Keller, told The Los Angeles Times. “The plaintiff’s estate simply decided to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be [refiled] and we agreed to the dismissal.”
A rep for Spacey did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff and District Attorney’s office had been investigating the masseur’s allegations. However, in October, prosecutors said Spacey would not be facing any criminal charges in the case because the “allegations cannot be proved without participation of the victim,” the Times reported.
The late masseur had claimed he was invited into Spacey’s home in Malibu in October 2016 for a massage, and that the actor told him he was “having some pain or discomfort in his groin area,” according to the closed lawsuit.
As the man began to massage Spacey’s leg, he alleged in the lawsuit that the American Beauty actor grabbed his hand and pulled it onto his groin.
The massage therapist claimed he attempted to give the actor the benefit of the doubt and assumed the actor was trying to direct him toward his source of pain. When he began to massage Spacey’s leg toward his groin, he claimed the actor grabbed his hand again and allegedly forced him to touch his genitals.
The unidentified man alleged that he pulled back and the incident allegedly escalated when Spacey exposed himself to the masseur and attempted to kiss him, according to the lawsuit. The man claimed Spacey also grabbed his genitals over his clothing and offered to perform oral sex on him.
Spacey denied the allegations.
In July a criminal sexual assault case against Spacey was also dropped. In that case, the actor was accused of groping a young man at a Nantucket bar in 2016 also dismissed the lawsuit.
The recent dismissal comes days after the Academy Award-winning actor released another bizarre video portraying his former House of Cards character, Frank Underwood, to wish viewers a Merry Christmas.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
