Kevin Spacey has won a bid to set aside a judgment against him in a High Court sexual abuse claim made after his solicitors did not file his defence in time.
In 2022, the Oscar-winning actor was sued by a man at the High Court in London who claimed he had been sexually assaulted by Spacey and suffered “psychiatric damage”.
The civil claim was paused after Spacey was charged – and later acquitted – in criminal proceedings of a number of sexual offences alleged by four men between 2001 and 2013.
At a hearing on Tuesday, the court heard that the actor’s lawyers were due to file a written defence after the end of the criminal proceedings but had failed to do so. A default judgment was subsequently entered against Spacey in the civil case on his liability earlier this year.
Adam Speker KC, for Spacey made a bid to set aside the default ruling, describing the failure to file the paperwork as a “genuine error by his solicitor”.
The barrister told the hearing in London it would be unfair to proceed to a damages hearing and the contested allegations should be taken to trial. Lifting the default civil judgment, Judge David Cook said that the lawyers had “quite frankly mucked up”.
He said: “There can be no excuse in my view for the date being overlooked. The simple fact of the matter is this is a claim where the defendant’s solicitors have made an error. In my view, that error should not be visited upon the defendant.”
Judge Cook added: “The interests of justice require that those allegations go forward to trial and the judgment in default should, therefore, be lifted.”
A party – known only as GHI – brought the sexual abuse claim at London’s High Court against the actor on Monday.
It comes after Spacey insisted he is "being attacked" after being hit by a wave of new allegations about his behaviour in a bombshell new documentary series. Channel 4 broadcast two part series Spacey Unmasked last week, which featured ten men who were involved in a sequence of events with Spacey, nine of whom had never previously been named.
The stories were from over five decades and involved men both straight and gay, with many alleging on camera there were situations instigated by Spacey which made them uncomfortable. The two-time Oscar winner has vehemently denied all previous allegations of sexual assault and was found not guilty over allegations by four men in an English court.
Spacey responded to Channel 4 on Friday afternoon, saying in a statement: "I have consistently denied – and now successfully defended – numerous allegations made both in the US and the UK, both criminal and civil, and each time have been able to source evidence undermining the allegations and have been believed by a jury of my peers."
Through his lawyers Spacey also said that he has been publicly exonerated and has been acquitted of every criminal charge against him in the US and the UK.
He denies engaging in any sexual harassment or other wrongful conduct in connection with House of Cards. He acknowledged that he “participated in a pervasive on-set culture that was filled with sexual innuendos, jokes, and innocent horseplay, but never sexually harassed anyone”.
On Thursday night Spacey also took to X, formerly Twitter , to say he had been given seven days to respond to allegations by Channel 4 and it was not enough time. He insisted he would have his say soon. He said: "Over the last week, I have repeatedly requested that Channel 4 afford me more than 7 days to respond to allegations made against me dating back 48 years and provide me with sufficient details to investigate these matters.
"Channel 4 has refused on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a 'fair opportunity' for me to refute any allegations made against me. I will not sit back and be attacked by a dying network's one-sided 'documentary' about me in their desperate attempt for ratings.
"There's a proper channel to handle allegations against me and it’s not Channel 4. Each time I have been given the time and a proper forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated. Tune in this weekend to see my response on X."
Spacey wept in court last July as he was cleared of all charges in his sexual assault trial in London. Jurors at Southwark Crown Court returned not guilty verdicts for nine sexual offence charges relating to four men between 2001 and 2013.
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