[News] Elton John and his husband David Furnish appear for the defence in Kevin Spacey’s s3x assault trial as they give evidence via videolink

Legendary singer, Elton John and his husband David Furnish have appeared for the defence in Kevin Spacey’s s3x assault trial and gave evidence via video link from Monaco.

 

Mr. Furnish was first to give evidence to Southwark Crown Court via video link from Monaco on Monday morning before Sir Elton was also called.

The defendant, standing trial under his full name Kevin Spacey Fowler, denies sex offences concerning four men, including sexual assault and indecent assault, which are alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013.

Giving evidence last week, Spacey denied he is a sexual bully and labelled the prosecution’s case against him as ‘weak’ – accusing one alleged victim of being after ‘money, money and then money’.

The 63-year-old told the London court how he could have had sex ‘all the time’ but found it hard to trust people because of his fame.

Sir Elton was asked about Spacey’s attendance at a charity event hosted by the singer in the early 2000s, on the way to which Spacey is alleged to have sexually assaulted a driver.

The singer said Spacey stayed overnight at his and his husband’s home in Windsor after the event, but said: ‘I can’t remember him coming down after that.’

Prosecutor Christine Agnew also asked Sir Elton about a photo of the complainant holding an umbrella outside a London theatre as he left the venue on another occasion.

The Rocket Man singer said he did not recognise the man and would not have noticed him at the time as it was ‘always a mad rush’ to get to his car when he left a venue with photographers outside.

‘They could be the queen and I don’t notice,’ he said.

Over the course of the trial, each of Spacey’s accusers have given evidence – variously describing him as a ‘vile sexual predator’, ‘slippery’ and ‘atrocious, despicable, disgusting’.

It comes after Spacey told the court on Friday that grabbing a man’s crotch is ‘generally not a first move’ he would make when meeting them – and accused one alleged victim of lying for ‘money, money and then money’.

The Oscar-winning actor faced further questions at Southwark Crown Court on Friday as the prosecution’s cross-examination of the Hollywood star began.

Prosecutor Christine Agnew KC first asked Spacey whether the ‘crotch grab’ was something that he would ‘normally do to someone you had met for the first time’.

Spacey replied: ‘No.’

Questioned on whether it was something he had done before that had worked, and that he considered it a ‘trademark’, Spacey replied: ‘No. Let me put it this way, it is the term ‘grabbing a crotch’ or ‘groping a crotch’ that I object to.’

When Ms. Agnew asked Spacey whether he considered a crotch grab to be an ‘appropriate’ first move, the actor replied: ‘That’s generally not a first move.’

Spacey denies charges including sexual assault and indecent assault.
He told the court he was ‘sure if I wanted to I could have sex all the time, but I didn’t when asked if his status made it easy for him to ‘pick up people’.

Spacey also told jurors at Southwark Crown Court that he is an ‘affectionate person’.

He agreed that he might give someone a hug after making a ‘first move’.
Questioned on what ‘moves’ would be appropriate, the Hollywood actor said: ‘Every encounter that we have as humans, that I have had, is unique. The circumstance is unique, the person is unique, and how we have interacted is unique.

‘I can’t give you a sort of rundown of what always happens, it’s always different.’

Responding to the suggestion that he might have ‘ignored’ signs from the four complainants, Spacey said he ‘definitely misread’ signs from one complainant who rejected an alleged sexual grab at an expensive property he was staying at in the Cotswolds in the early 2010s.

The actor added that he had ‘consensual interactions’ with two other complainants – one who drove him to a lavish showbiz party in the early 2000s and an aspiring actor who claimed Spacey had ‘drugged’ him before waking up to find the defendant performing a sex act on him.

Referring to the complainant who alleged Spacey grabbed his crotch ‘like a cobra’ after meeting him at a West End theatre in the mid-2000s, the actor said: ‘He has made up his entire story from beginning to end.’
Spacey told the court his alleged victims ‘did not let me know’ if they went further with him than they intended.