Kevin Spacey settles civil lawsuits over sexual assault claims

Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAYThu, March 19, 2026 at 2:14 PM UTC

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Kevin Spacey, the award-winning actor who has faced sexual misconduct allegations for nearly a decade, has settled out of court with three accusers ahead of a London trial.

Three separate men had filed civil suits against Spacey, 66, in London's High Court, accusing him of sexual assault between 2000 and 2013. Two of the involved claimants gave evidence during Spacey's 2023 criminal trial in London, where the actor was acquitted of all charges.

A trial for the UK civil suits was set for October, according to court documents, but a March 13 filing shows it had been stayed, or canceled, after an undisclosed settlement was reached. Spacey has denied all wrongdoing and said the incidents alleged in the lawsuits did not happen or were consensual.

1 / 0Celebrity scandals that rocked Hollywood: Weinstein, Cosby and moreEllen DeGeneres found herself in hot water earlier this year, after BuzzFeed reported that a group of employees said that they faced racism, fear and intimidation while working on her popular daytime talk show. Three of the show's producers were also accused of sexual misconduct by former employees and were later fired following a Warner Bros. investigation.

The host of the popular, long-running "Ellen DeGeneres Show" has since apologized to her employees, and during her show's season premiere on Sept. 21, DeGeneres took some time to address the scandal with viewers. "I learned that things happened here that never should have happened," she said. "I take that very seriously, and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected. I know that I'm in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show."

Allegations against Spacey first surfaced publicly in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp said Spacey assaulted him at a party in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 27. A federal jury found Spacey was not liable on all counts in a civil case Rapp filed against Spacey in 2022.

More accusations followed from 15 other people, many of whom had worked on "House of Cards," in which he starred. Spacey has denied all wrongdoing. He was acquitted by a London jury on nine sexual assault charges lodged by four men in 2023.

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Actor Kevin Spacey walks outside Southwark Crown Court in London, Britain, July 26, 2023.

Spacey's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the claimants' lawyers declined to comment.

Spacey, who won Oscars for "American Beauty" and "The Usual Suspects", was dropped from the TV drama "House of Cards" and removed from the movie "All the Money in the World" after the first allegations of sexual assault emerged.

He is currently set to star in "The Awakening," a "conspiracy thriller" film, Deadline reported last year.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kevin Spacey settles lawsuits alleging sexual assault before trial

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