Kevin Spacey appeared in a London court Thursday to face sexual assault charges, which he “strenuously denies” and intends to disprove, his lawyer said at the preliminary hearing.
Spacey faces five separate counts from alleged incidents that took place in the U.K. between March 2005 and April 2013. He was surrounded by a mob of reporters, photographers and TV cameras as he entered London’s Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday morning.
Though not asked to enter a plea, his lawyer, Patrick Gibbs, said his client “strenuously denies any and all criminality in this case,” according to the Associated Press. He will remain free on unconditional bail until a July 14 hearing, where he will formally plead.
The actor had previously said in a statement to “Good Morning America” that he would “voluntarily appear” in court and was “confident” that he could prove his innocence.
One man is alleging two incidents from 2005 in London, while a second man alleges he was a victim in 2008. The fourth accusation comes from a third man claiming he was assaulted in Gloucestershire in 2013.
Spacey was fired from the Netflix drama “House of Cards” in 2017 after multiple accusations of sexual assault surfaced against him at the height of the #MeToo movement. Spacey was last interviewed by the police in 2019 in the U.S., though the actor has remained active outside of Hollywood, with two different films both starring Spacey recently being shopped at the Cannes Market.