Kevin Spacey hits back at actor’s new ‘groping’ allegations made in documentary

Actor faces fresh allegations after being found not guilty of nine counts of sexual assault last year

A former actor has accused Kevin Spacey of groping him ahead of a new Channel 4 documentary investigating several claims against the Hollywood star.

Ruari Cannon, waiving his right to anonymity, claimed that the House of Cards and American Beauty actor intimately touched him without consent in 2013, when he was 21 and Spacey was 53.

Cannon’s accusation will be included in the forthcoming two-part documentary, Spacey Unmasked.

The allegations have been rejected by Spacey, who has also hit out at Channel 4 and production company Roast Beef over the documentary on social media.

On Thursday (2 May), the American actor posted a statement on X/Twitter, claiming that he’d asked Channel 4 to give him “more than seven days to respond to allegations made against me dating back 48 years”.

Spacey described the claims as “anonymised and non-specific”, before writing off the programme as “a dying network’s one-sided ‘documentary’ about me in their desperate attempt for ratings”.

He added: “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.”

After noting that he would be responding to the claims throughout the weekend, Spacey concluded his message: “Channel 4 and @RoastBeefTV may find themselves ‘speechless’, but I no longer will be.”

Ruari Cannon (right) is one of several men who have shared their experiences of Kevin Spacey in a new Channel 4 documentary (Getty)

The Independent has reached out to representatives of Spacey for additional comment.

Last July, Spacey was found not guilty of sexually assaulting four men in a case held at Southwark Crown Court.

Each of Spacey’s four accusers gave evidence in the trial, describing him as a “vile sexual predator”, “slippery” and “atrocious, despicable, disgusting”.

In response, the two-time Oscar-winner described the allegations against him as “madness” and a “stab in the back”. He denied seven counts of sexual assault, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

The jury acquitted Spacey of all charges.

Prior to this, in 2022, a jury also dismissed claims brought against Spacey by Rent star Anthony Rapp, who was the first man to make public allegations against him in 2017.

Cannon is one of several men who have shared their experiences of Spacey in the documentary, with their testimonies spanning from the 1970s to the 2010s, in both the UK and the US.

The men were mostly young actors, students, or theatre employees when they encountered Spacey.

Kevin Spacey speaks to the press after leaving Southwark Crown Court, south London, on 26 July 2023 (Getty)

Speaking to the i newspaper, Cannon made claims of a troubling interaction with Spacey while at a West End press night party at the Savoy Hotel in 2013.

Cannon alleged that Spacey sent him an expensive gift to congratulate him on his performance in a new production of Tennessee Williams’s Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic, the London theatre of which Spacey was the artistic director.

At the after-party, Cannon claimed he was thanking Spacey when the older actor “pulled me in very close with his right hand and sort of turned me 45 degrees” before touching his behind in an intimate way.

Later, stating that the interaction had left him feeling “totally paralysed”, Cannon said that he hoped speaking out in the film would give others the courage to do the same.

“What I hope is that this film can help other people feel less afraid, less fearful,” he said.

“By putting my name and my face to this I’m being honest with myself – the impact it had.”

Spacey Unmasked airs on 6 and 7 May at 9pm on Channel 4.

Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)

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