Kevin Spacey charged with sexual assault, posts video statement as Frank Underwood
A Massachusetts prosecutor has charged Kevin Spacey with sexual assault, more than a year after a former Boston news anchor came forward with allegations the disgraced actor sexually assaulted her teenage son at a bar in 2016, officials announced Monday.
Cape and Island District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said in a statement "a criminal complaint of indecent assault and battery" has been issued "against Kevin S. Fowler, also known as Kevin Spacey," for the July 2016 incident. Spacey will be arraigned at Nantucket District Court Jan. 7.
As news of the criminal charge began circulating, the former "House of Cards" actor tweeted out a video channeling his Frank Underwood character from the acclaimed series — his first tweet since October 2017. In the three-minute video titled "Let Me Be Frank," Spacey alludes to his dismissal from the show, which happened as numerous allegations against him surfaced.
"You wouldn't rush to judgment without facts, would you?" Spacey said in remarks that could be interpreted to apply to his TV character or himself. "Anyway, all this rush to judgement made for such an unsatisfying ending. To think it could have been such a memorable send-off."
During a news conference in November 2017, former WCVB-TV anchor Heather Unruh alleged the assault happened when her son was drinking at the Club Car restaurant on Nantucket in the summer of 2016.
Fighting back tears, she said her son was a "star-struck, straight, 18-year-old young man who had no idea that the famous actor was an alleged sexual predator, or that he was about to become his next victim."
Unruh claimed Spacey bought her son several drinks, and eventually stuck his hand in his pants and grabbed the teen's genitals without consent in the crowded, dimly lit club.
"To Kevin Spacey, I want to say this ..." Unruh told reporters, "... Shame on you for what you did to my son."
After the charges were filed Monday, Unruh told the Boston Globe, "I'm pleased that the case is moving forward in the judicial system."
More than a dozen men have accused Spacey of sexual misconduct. The allegations first came to light in October 2017 when "Star Trek: Discovery" star Anthony Rapp said Spacey made a sexual advance on him when he was 14. Rapp said it happened in 1986, when he was at Spacey's home for a party. He said Spacey put him on his bed and climbed on top of him, but Rapp said he was able to escape.
Spacey responded by saying he did not remember the incident with Rapp, but "if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior."
