The prosecution in Kevin Spacey’s trial for sexual assault called the actor a “sexual bully” and told the jury it was normal to be “starstruck or overwhelmed” as the trial began, warning “you must keep yourself grounded and true to the oath,” Variety reports.
Spacey is on trial for 12 counts of sexual assault at Southwark Crown Court in London, U.K. The prosecution alleges the assaults took place against four men in the U.K. between 2001 and 2013, when Spacey was living and working in London.
Barrister Christine Agney KC gave the prosecution’s opening statement on Friday morning, in which she set out who Spacey was, calling him an “extremely famous actor who has won a number of awards” and setting out the charges against him.
“Four men who are not known to each other but had the misfortune to attract Mr Spacey’s attention,” is how Agney described the alleged victims, who must not be named publicly under U.K. law.
She also told the 12-strong jury in Kevin Spacey’s trial that Spacey has been accused of sexually assaulting four men and that Spacey maintained the sexual encounters were either made up by the men or were consensual, according to Variety.