Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty to accusations of sexual offenses in a London court on Thursday morning.
The actor, 62, entered the plea during a hearing at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales. The judge set a date of June 6, 2023, for the trial to begin and said it would last three to four weeks.
The two-time Oscar-winning actor, who served as artistic director of London’s Old Vic theater between 2004 and 2015, is accused of four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The charges stem from claims by three men that Spacey had sexually assaulted them in England almost 20 years ago. The alleged incidents took place in the British capital between March 2005 and August 2008, and in Gloucestershire in April 2013. The victims are now in their 30s and 40s.
Spacey’s lawyer previously stated that the actor “strenuously denies” the allegations.
London’s Metropolitan Police Service formally charged Spacey in June, and he was granted unconditional bail and allowed to return to the United States following a preliminary hearing on June 16.
In a statement given exclusively to ABC News’ Good Morning America in late May, Spacey said he would “voluntarily” appear in court in the U.K. capital, and was “confident” he would prove his innocence.
Spacey was praised for his starring role as a ruthless politician in the Netflix series House of Cards. But he was written out of the show after being fired in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexually assaulting him at a party in New York City in 1986, when Rapp was 14.
Spacey has denied the allegations and was criticized for coming out as gay in his apology to Rapp. In a statement at the time, Spacey said he had “admiration” for Rapp, adding he was “beyond horrified” to hear his allegations — which Spacey said he “honestly” couldn’t remember.
“But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior,” Spacey concluded.
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