Spacey grabbed man ‘like a cobra’ while making ‘hardcore comments’, court told

By Josh Payne and Helen William, PA

A “very arrogant” Kevin Spacey grabbed a man “like a cobra” in a West End theatre while making hardcore comments, a court has heard.

A jury heard the Hollywood star “smelled of booze” before allegedly grabbing the complainant, who told police he responded to the actor by saying “I’m not like that”.

The man told an officer he remembered “freezing and pushing his arm away” when Spacey allegedly assaulted him, describing it as a “bizarre and horrible experience”.

He also detailed the “barrage of vile comments”, telling the officer: “Maybe he enjoyed me being uncomfortable.”

Southwark Crown Court was played footage of the police interview with the alleged victim on Wednesday, where he claimed Spacey had taken “no responsibility” for the incident, saying: “He just said ‘I’m gay’.”

Describing the alleged assault the complainant said “he was like a cobra and grabbed with such force it was really painful” and “like a cobra coming out and getting hold”.

He continued: “It was aggressive. It wasn’t trying to be a seduction. It was angry.”

Asked about Spacey’s response, he said: “He sort of laughed” and he felt like he was “in the twilight zone”.

Detailing his first impressions of the actor, the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “My opinion when he arrived was he smelled of booze. He looked dishevelled. He did not look like he had been to sleep.”

The man told the officer he was “taken aback” by the alleged crude comments made by the star, claiming: “It was very aggressive. I have never had anyone talk to me in that way.”

“It was all getting hardcore,” he said about Spacey’s alleged comments.

He continued: “This conversation went on. I was laughing but on the inside feeling very uncomfortable.

“I was feeling very shocked. It was not what I was expecting.

“I thought it would stop.”

The man told the officer the alleged comments made him “feel so low” and “it was offensive, what he was saying”.

He went on: “My first impression is that he seemed very arrogant.

“I remember he looked me up and down and looked at my crotch region.

“He did not respond to me particularly politely.”

Asked why he had come forward to police, the alleged victim said it was as if he had “allowed somebody, in a way, to denigrate me”.

He told police: “I hope he does the right thing – if he apologises then maybe I won’t want him to go to court.

“He took no responsibility for it, he just said ‘I’m gay’.

“He’s still not hearing what he did was wrong – that’s sort of spurred me on a bit.”

The complainant said he put his allegations “in a box” initially because the Oscar-winning actor was seen as a “golden boy”.

He said: “He was a huge success.

“I put it in a box and carried on with my life but he had a detrimental effect on my life and my business.

“It is like telling tales out of school, in a way.”

Spacey, 63, has been described by the prosecution as a “sexual bully” as he stands trial accused of sex offences against four men between 2001 and 2013.

The defendant pleaded not guilty in January to three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

The two-time Academy Award winner also previously denied four further charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

The trial continues.