Kevin Spacey to fight new U.K. court case

This image released by Netflix shows Kevin Spacey as U.S. Congressman Frank Underwood in a scene from the Netflix original series, "House of Cards. " (AP Photo/Netflix, Melinda Sue Gordon)

Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey faces another legal battle in London next year over civil sexual assault allegations, three years after he was cleared of criminal charges, a court heard Wednesday.

Three people are suing the 66-year-old star in civil cases at London’s High Court linked to his time as artistic director of the capital’s Old Vic theatre.

The star of “American Beauty” and drama series “House of Cards”, who did not attend Wednesday’s hearing, was in 2023 acquitted of a number of criminal sexual charges alleged by four men following a trial in London.

Two of the claimants in the new civil proceedings were involved in that earlier case.

Spacey, who has always denied any wrongdoing, won the best supporting actor Oscar for the 1996 film “The Usual Suspects” and best actor in 2000 for “American Beauty”.

But his once-stellar career was damaged by the various allegations of sexual offences, which first emerged in 2017 as part of the nascent #MeToo movement, and which he has always denied.

In 2022, a New York court also dismissed a $40 million civil sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against him.

All three of the claims in the latest proceedings “relate to alleged sexual assaults by the defendant (Spacey) of younger men he came into contact with whilst working at the Old Vic theatre, two as young actors”, court documents said.

The alleged offences took place between 2004 and 2015.

One of the claimants, actor Ruari Cannon -- who was not involved in the 2023 case -- is also suing the Old Vic theatre.

He has waived his right to anonymity. The other two claimants cannot be named.

According to court documents, one of the claimants alleges that Spacey took his hand on several occasions and placed it on his (Spacey’s) body while clothed.

Details of the other allegations were not available.

At a preliminary hearing at the High Court on Wednesday, Judge Christina Lambert ruled that the three cases be provisionally held in October 2026.

Further hearings will be heard to determine the format, as prosecution lawyers are calling for the cases to be combined into one single trial, while the defence said they should be heard separately.

A combined trial was expected to take eight to nine days, while separate trials would take five to six days each.