The two-time Oscar winner tried to compose himself as he told jurors his acting work dried up and his fortune dwindled in the face of mounting legal bills.
Wiping away tears, the Hollywood star told Southwark crown court: "There was a rush to judgment, and before the first question was asked or answered I lost my job, I lost my reputation, I lost everything in a matter of days."
Spacey, 63, denies charges including sexual assault and indecent assault against four men in their 20s and 30s, between 2001 and 2013.
Yesterday, giving evidence at his month-long trail, Spacey's barrister, Patrick Gibbs KC, asked him about an October 2017 BuzzFeed article that featured an allegation by the American actor Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of an unwanted sexual advance. The allegation was found not proven in a civil court in October last year.
Spacey said: "My world exploded". He added there were further rumours in the wake of the article and that his sponsorship deals and contracts were "abandoned".
"With a few exceptions over the last five, six years, I have not been able to work," he said. "I've had no money coming in and I've had a lot of legal bills and things to fight against, and I haven't paid it all off so I still owe money." Spacey also addressed the public statement he made in the wake of the allegation in which he came out as gay.
This story is from the July 14, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the July 14, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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