Elton John provides defense testimony during the Spacey sex assault trial.
On Monday, British musician Elton John testified in the defense’s favor at the sexual assault trial of Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey.
The two-time Oscar winner disputes 12 allegations involving four individuals, including a claim of indecent assault, that are said to have occurred between 2001 and 2013.
The musician and his husband David Furnish testified via video link from Monaco about Spacey attending a yearly gala at their Windsor, west of London, home.
One of the claimed victims claims that Spacey assaulted him as he was driving the actor to the charity event. He claims that Spacey gripped him “so hard” that they almost ran off the road.
Spacey, 63, had earlier claimed in court that the incident “never happened” and that he was “not on a suicide mission” in Southwark Crown Court in London.
He admitted to touching the man but said it wasn’t in a “violent, aggressive, painful way” and claimed that they had been flirting with each other.
In response to inquiries from the prosecution, John stated that he remembered Spacey attending the charity event in the early 2000s while dressed in “white tie.”
“He was on a flight, he came on a private jet, and he came straight to the ball,” John testified in court, adding that Spacey spent the night at their house following the event.
John remarked, “I don’t recall him coming after that.”
The musician responded “I assume so, yes” when asked if he had arrived directly off the private plane.
Furnish, who was the first to testify, also recalled seeing Spacey at the gathering.
“He was an Oscar-winning actor, and there was a lot of excitement he was at the ball,” the director told the jury.
Other than going to the ball, he continued, “I don’t remember Kevin ever coming to the house again.
As Another Son
When Spacey entered the witness stand earlier in the trial, he mentioned a number of famous people, including John.
He mentioned buying Judi Dench a ping pong table after they collaborated on the 2001 movie “The Shipping News,” claiming that they grew close and had a “lovely friendship.”
As the court heard character testimony from friends and family members on Monday, Spacey started to get teary-eyed and wiped his eyes.
Spacey was characterized as “positive, supportive, and respectful” by “House” and “Dead Poets Society” actor Robert Sean Leonard, while Chris Lemmon, the son of “Some Like It Hot” actor Jack Lemmon, claimed Spacey was “like another son” to his father.
Spacey won Academy Awards for “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty,” and from 2004 to 2015, he served as creative director of London’s Old Vic theater.
The prosecution called Spacey a “sexual bully” who delighted in making other people uncomfortable, including by forcibly groping men’s crotches, at the trial’s beginning late last month.
The four alleged victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, spoke in court. One of them, a former aspiring actor, claimed that Spacey “drugged” him after performing a sex act on him when he woke up.
Spacey last week disputed the allegations of sexual assault and called the prosecution’s case against him “weak” in his testimony.
Anthony Rapp, a US actor, initially accused him of sexual assault several years ago. He has already testified in court that his world “exploded” and he “lost everything in a matter of days” after that.
Last year, it was determined that Rapp’s claims were unfounded.
The trial goes on.
About The Author
