Two-time Oscar winner and former House of Cards star Kevin Spacey showed up in court Monday morning to plead not guilty to groping an 18-year-old busboy.
Spacey, who had his long career derailed by charges of sexual misconduct, did not appear in court himself. A judge further ruled that the actor does not even have to appear during the trial, but must make himself available by phone. The next hearing will happen on March 4.
The embattled actor faces charges of sexual misconduct after allegedly groping the 18-year-old son of Boston news anchor Heather Unruh. Unruh’s son worked as a busboy at a bar called Club Car.
According to the charges, Spacey got the man drunk and groped his genitals. When Spacey excused himself to go to the bathroom, the busboy allegedly fled the scene. Spacey and his lawyers have denied all charges.
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Related: Kevin Spacey ruins Christmas with this creepy AF video about sexual assault
The trial comes as the latest media circus surrounding Spacey’s conduct. In 2017, a number of men came forward claiming Spacey had sexually assaulted them, including Star Trek and Rent actor Anthony Rapp. Rapp alleged that Spacey tried to have sex with him when Rapp was only 14. Several other men then shared their own stories where Spacey allegedly fondled them.
Following the allegations by Rapp, Spacey came out of the closet as a gay man and checked into rehab for sex addiction. On Christmas, he released a bizarre video of himself as his House of Cards character encouraging viewers to not believe the charges against him.
OzJosh
There’s little doubt that Spacey has been creepy and handsy on multiple occasions. But let’s also have some perspective. There isn’t another western country where touching up an 18-year-old would be portrayed as “teen sex assault”. An 18-year-old is an adult pretty much everywhere.
dinard38
I totally agree. While I’m not disputing the fact that Spacey is a sleeze, I would be shocked if this particular case went anywhere. The man was 18, a legal adult. They’re trying to portray this as if Kevin was messing around with a minor. Also, the young man hasn’t come forth. I’ve only seen his overly outraged mother in the media. I don’t want to hear accusations like this from a third party. I wonder if she’s forcing her son into pressing charges.
jakejacob
This is all about money. Nothing else.
MacAdvisor
“Spacey got the man drunk…”
How did Spacey get the guy drunk? He strapped him to a chair, used a metal set of clamps to hold the guy’s mouth open, and then poured alcohol down the guy’s throat until the guy was drunk? Or, more likely, he offered to buy the man drinks and the man freely accept them because he wanted them. Claiming Spacey got him drunk is removing self-will and power from the man.
Brian
Did he explicitly make that claim himself? Or is that just how gossip blogs are writing it?
Rock-N-RollHS
All I know is I want to see that damn “Gore” movie! I don’t give a damn about anything else!
Mick406
They sure got this story wrong. They said Spacey did not have to appear in court. He was THERE! They said he would have to show up for the “trial”. There is no trial scheduled. He hasn’t even been indicted. He showed up today because of a police report filed. That’s it. Next comes the formal charge, then the pleading. The only stipulation made today was he had to sign a paper at the probation office in that same courthouse where he agreed to stay away from his accuser. That’s it. No bail, no bond. He comes back in March.
I can’t stand the thought of him having to be incarcerated. He probably didn’t no anything worse than what a lot of us have done in the past. He was just too careless.
rray63
The guy was 18, pretending to be 23 if the stories are true. There has been so much press coverage I want to see K.S. actually get a fair trial. Does anyone think this will happen or will we get a sacrificial lamb, led to slaughter? Because why would a man of K.S. age want an 18 or 23 y/o that found him attractive? This crap has turned into a horrid travesty. In the end it will all be about money and once again it will be at the behest of the mother, she’s been behind everything so far anyway.
Brian
Why? He’s a pedophile. He only effs much younger men, sometimes boys.
I have a bunch of friends in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, and I’ve been to the “VIP” areas of the gay clubs there, and this type of thing is normal. Middle aged rich guys can get whatever they want, and they have the connections to keep it secret. Kevin Spacey is known for this.
GlobeTrotter
Far from me to defend sexual abuse, but there are a lot of problems with this alleged felony assault and battery charge. For one, you lie about your age, allow a guy 40 years your senior to buy you one drink after another, you stick around despite his heavy flirting and obvious intentions, even after he ramps up the flirting and invites you back to his place you still stick around happily downing the drinks he’s buying, he moves his hands up your thighs and starts fondling your genital area, you keep downing the drinks, at no time do you say no, at no time do you even attempt to stand up and get the hell out of there, at no time does he physically restrain you or prevent you from leaving, in fact, instead of standing up and leaving, you take a selfie of him groping you up. Not only that, but you also send said selfie to a third party. At no time during this encounter, even according to your own account, do you offer the least sign of resistance.
The argument that you were too inebriated to resist his advances just isn’t credible – if you’re sober enough to take a selfie and send it to a third party (after first unlocking your phone, searching for their contact info, etc.), then you’re sober enough to say “NO” and leave. Maybe it’s just me, but if I were drunk and found myself about to get assaulted or raped, my first thought would be to fight or flight, not take a selfie.
To my mind this sounds like your typical star-smitten young guy with father issues, obviously flattered by Spacey’s attention at the time but now experiencing buyer’s remorse. Spacey’s an aggressive creep, I get that, but that doesn’t mean he raped or sexually molested this young man. The fact that he emphatically asked if he was old enough to drink shows that Spacey was careful or concerned enough that he felt he had to secure some sort of “consent”.
redzebra1
“The fact that he emphatically asked if he was old enough to drink shows that Spacey was careful or concerned enough that he felt he had to secure some sort of “consent”.” Yeah, Spacey actually asked him of his age! I’ve been treated much the same way only I was NEVER asked my age, or asked permission to ‘hold’ or what have you, by men that go all over me at nightclubs and bars! He’s a gentleman in comparison.
Toofie
He was 18, lied he was 23. It was a public place. Any time he could’ve left; he didn’t. Instead he recorded it. Then got a selfie. Not a fan of KS, but this is a non case and a waste of tax payer money.
Brian
What do you mean by taxpayer money?
The judge is getting paid… that bothers you?
dannysax
This is no defense of sexual molestation, but I think it’s all about what money the greedy mother can get out of K.S. 18yo lies, 18yo drinks, 18yo takes selfie and “grope-lie” and sends to a friend, for purposes of evidence against K.S. In most other civilized Western countries, if someone touches your junk, you just tell them no, not interested, and please don’t do that. I know for a fact that’s the way it went down 20 years ago. Maybe this Me-too craze has made the touching a felony charge these days, both a waste of taxpayers’ money and a waste of everyone’s time. Once again, it’s all about the money. When I was a young gay man, I had several older guys grab my ass and my genitals and I just told them “hands off, not interested,” but I did not take them to court like the B.S. of this generation. I have done the same thing a few times when I was a little buzzed, but I did not get sued or taken to court for it. So is this kid a gay kid? That was never established in the article. He def. led Kevin on by enjoying the attention and the drinks, etc. Let’s please restrict all this legal stuff to real rapes and violently forced sexual contact, which are real crimes, and not be so sensitive to a slight touch or fondle (though not wanted, it’s not felonious in my opinion).
justmythoughts
Spacey does seem like a sleazy person. However, the of age (18 y.o.) guy was drinking of his freewill, plus, sat there while it happened, called his GF, etc. Seems like he is just trying to make some money.
iamru2
Only reason this has gone as far as it has is because Spacey is a well known figure. Many of us have been grabed in bars and don’t make a federal case if it or try to ruin the guys life.
redzebra1
Happens to me every night at a bar/nightclub! I feel disappointed if I get no attention at all. Spacey even asked his age! Yeah! A real gentleman, compared to others….
Gouly Julie Annie
Supposedly, the eighteen year old was an employee of the club, and they served him drinks knowing he was only eighteen. Like Rapp, who crawled into Spacey’s bed during a party and was shocked that Spacey got into his own bed with him, it seems fishy that someone who gets drunk at their place of employment and finds himself drawing unwanted attention would have the presence of mind to film evidence rather than asking a coworker for help, or simply walking away!
Libeara
This whole story smell suspicious….
The boy was a server at the event…
Spacey got him drunk…?
Stuck his hands in the boys pants for 3 minutes?
Then in bed with the boy?
The boy was 18 years old and lied that he was 21+
He could have said NO!
My question is – Why is this ‘boys’ Mama screaming her babyboy was sexually assaulted because he was star-struck? If he was drunk – he could have been sexually assaulted by anyone there. Why is he not speaking for himself?
It appears Mom.. who is a local news reporter is looking for her 15 minutes of fame … How disgraceful and demoralizing for her son…
Me2
Unwanted touching is considered assault. If the person who was touched decides to report it, you will be arrested.
redzebra1
He didn’t report for more than a year. Interesting how the ‘selfie’ he took is supposedly incriminating but was given to the police AFTER first going to the media, then the initial police report………
Me2
It was still within the statute of limitations. The selfie could’ve been leaked to the media by anyone.
GlobeTrotter
Sorry, but “unwanted touching” is NOT considered assault, at least not under Massachusetts law!
It has to be unwanted touching that was FORCED on someone for it to be considered assault, and that’s the main bone of contention in this case. In fact, one could argue that the fact that the young man stuck around for so many hours, never tried to escape, never alerted any of the dozens of other patrons that he was being abused, willingly consumed all the drinks Spacey kept buying him, never objected to being touched or fondled by Spacey (in fact he actually took a video of it and sent it to a third party) are all good indicators that Spacey’s behavior was NOT unwanted or forced.
Me2
Correct, unwanted forced touching is considered assault.
It can also be argued that the accuser was young, embarrassed, intimidated, and fearful. I assume that the prosecutor has either a witness or some other evidence to support the forced touching claim. Otherwise, charges would not have been filed.
GlobeTrotter
How is the touching to be considered “forced” when the supposed victim made absolutely no attempt to either defend himself, remove himself from the situation or brush off Spacey’s advances? According to his own mother, he sat there the entire time, drinking whatever Spacey was buying, made absolutely no attempt to discourage Spacey even while Spacey was heavily flirting and had his hands all over the supposed victim’s thigh, and while being “abused”, took a trophy video and sent to his friend.
redzebra1
Also, as an employee of the event, like elsewhere, if you’re harassed by a patron, you move to behind the bar. With or without alerting you’re colleagues, etc He didn’t. WHY?
That’s if you indulge the accusation, lol
Blackceo
The only weird thing about today’s proceedings was seeing Nantucket that bustling for early January. I’ve only been up there once in the winter and its dead slow.
rray63
@Me2 Find me an honest prosecutor and I’ll show you a miracle. This case is their dream, make or break career’s. Truth has nothing to do with it, surely you are not that naive?
djmcgamester
Let’s look at some facts. Spacey was buying that EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD drinks. That EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD was accepting the drinks. That EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD is an adult. What kind of idiot thinks there aren’t some kind of strings attached to that, even if it doesn’t lead to a sexual encounter.
I’m sorry, but the number of times my ass has been grabbed over the years is astounding. Obviously more often when I was young. I’ve had strangers grab my crotch in bars. If I didn’t like it, I walked away. It wasn’t earth-shattering and I didn’t whine over my feelings being hurt. Grow some balls, kid. You got away without any harm done. Learn from that lesson. This is clearly a cash grab.
MuslimSlutBox
No way this holds up in court. They’ll go for summary judgment in the first 10 minutes and the entire case will be dismissed. Where’s the kid? I don’t wanna see mom with her creepy outrage talking about her son’s dick, I wanna see him.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
This guy allowed Spacey to jerk his junk for OVER THERE MINUTES. He ALLOWED Spacey to fondle it in his pants, then allowed him to open his zipper and jerk his FULL ERECT member after telling Spacey how hung he was. Then ONE YEAR later decides to file charges. Sorry if you are being “assaulted” it begins the moment someone puts a hand on your junk.
He is very attractive and am sure was fully aware of what was happening.
This is nothing more than an a$$ault…
inbama
So glad to see real gay MEN coming out to question this ridiculous extension of the concept of assault from MeToo that’s inviting the government into every aspect of our private lives.