Kevin Spacey was cleared of all sexual assault charges on Wednesday, July 26, following his four-week trial in the U.K.
According to Variety, the actor broke down in tears when the verdict was announced on his 64th birthday.
Spacey faced 12 charges including multiple counts of sexual assault and one charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without their consent. The alleged incidents took place between Spacey and four men occurring between 2001 and 2013 while he was working as the artistic director of the Old Vic theater in London.
“The CPS has authorized criminal charges against Kevin Spacey for four counts of sexual assault against three men,” head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime Division, Rosemary Ainslie, said in a statement announcing the charges in May 2022 according to ABC. “He has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The charges follow a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation.”
Before his legal battle in the United Kingdom, Spacey was also accused of sexual misconduct and assault in the United States back in October 2017. Broadway star Anthony Rapp claimed that the two-time Oscar winner made sexual advances toward him in 1985 when he was 14 years old.
A week after Rapp’s allegations came to light, Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct by eight House of Cards employees. At the time, a rep for Spacey told Us Weekly that he was seeking unspecified treatment. (Spacey starred on the Netflix series from 2013 to 2017.)
“Kevin Spacey is taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment,” the November 2017 statement read. “No other information is available at this time.”
Spacey was subsequently fired from House of Cards as well as replaced in his film All the Money in the World. The project was reshot with Christopher Plummer stepping into the lead role.
As more allegations came to light, Spacey faced scrutiny and legal action. In June 2019, the Man Who Drew God star appeared in a Massachusetts court for allegedly groping an 18-year-old man’s genitals at a bar on Nantucket Island back in summer 2016. He was charged with indecent assault and battery. However, the charges were ultimately dropped due to the “unavailability of a complaining witness” per the Nantucket District Court Clerk’s office at the time.
Later that year, charges against Spacey were also dropped in Los Angeles. The L.A. County DA office declined the case after an anonymous massage therapist who accused the actor of sexual battery and assault had died.