Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey is facing sexual assault charges in the UK, police and prosecutors said on Thursday, after a review of allegations against him.
The two-time Oscar winner for The Usual Suspects and American Beauty was artistic director of The Old Vic theatre in London between 2004 and 2015.
Allegations against him first surfaced during the #MeToo movement in which numerous claims of sexual assault and harassment were made in the film industry.
This prompted an investigation by London's Metropolitan Police and a review by The Old Vic of the 62-year-old Spacey's time in charge there.
The Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement that it had “authorised criminal charges” against the actor “for four counts of sexual assault against three men”.
The Met said separately that the first two counts of sexual assault date from March 2005 in London and concern the same man, who is now in his 40s.
The third assault reportedly happened in London in August 2008 against a man who is now in his 30s. The same man is alleged to be the victim of the separate charge.
The fourth sexual assault charge reportedly occurred in Gloucestershire, western England, in April 2013 against a third man, who is now in his 30s.
Under English law, none of the alleged victims can be identified.
British legal restrictions are in place limiting what the media can report until the case comes before a jury to avoid prejudicing any trial.
The CPS said that when considering whether to approve charges, it makes “fair, independent and objective” assessments about whether a case should go to court.
Claims against Spacey in 2017 led to the end of his involvement in the filming of the final season of the political drama House of Cards.
He was also dropped from a Gore Vidal biopic on Netflix and as the industrialist John Paul Getty in All the Money in the World.
Christopher Plummer was brought in as a last-minute replacement.
Spacey, considered one of the finest actors of his generation, has previously denied similar charges in the US.
A criminal case against him for sexual assault there was dropped in 2019.
The actor is currently in New York and facing a civil case arising from the abandoned criminal action, US court documents show.
British media said it was understood he had not been formally charged in the UK because he was not in the country and there was no immediate word if he would have to be extradited.
The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
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