‘I’m a big flirt’: Kevin Spacey begins defence in sexual assault trial

Kevin Spacey began his defence in his sexual assault trial today by telling a packed Southwark Crown Court in London that touching one accuser was “in my mind romantic”.

The 63-year-old Hollywood star faces 12 sexual offence charges against four men between 2001 and 2013, all of which he denies. He told the jury that while he was “a big flirt” he touched the man in a “gentle” and not “in a violent, aggressive, painful way”. “We had a consensual, I believe nice and lovely evening,” he added.

The court has heard nearly two weeks of accusations about Spacey’s behaviour from a number of men.

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Today, after taking the oath, he looked “relaxed” and was “smiling” as he began answering questions. Asked for his reaction to the allegations by the complainant, he said: “I was crushed. I never thought the [name of man] I knew over 20 years later would stab me in the back,” reported the BBC.

Spacey took to the witness box days after an aspiring actor described him in court as a “vile sexual predator” who “drugged” him before performing a sex act without consent, said Forbes.

After being invited to the actor’s London flat, the alleged victim described feeling “extremely woozy” and “conked out”. When he woke up “five or six” hours later, he said, his “very first image is him [Spacey] giving me oral sex. I said ‘No’. He carried on doing it until I pushed his shoulder.”

One of Spacey’s accusers described him as “slippery” and claimed the star “grabbed [his crotch] so hard he almost came off the road” while driving to a party, noted Sky News.

The trial continues.