Kevin Spacey's accusers are credible and their allegations deserve to be heard with respect, prosecutors told jurors on Wednesday as the actor's sexual assault trial draws to a close.
Spacey, 63, is standing trial at London's Southwark Crown Court on nine charges of sexual offences against four men between 2001 and 2013 in Britain, where he worked from 2003 as artistic director of London's Old Vic theatre.
Three of the four accusers have said Spacey aggressively groped them. The fourth says Spacey performed oral sex on him while he was passed out in Spacey's flat.
Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and suggested in evidence that his accusers were either lying or reimagining consensual sexual encounters.
In her closing speech, prosecutor Christine Agnew described Spacey as "a man who is used to getting his own way".
She disputed Spacey's argument that his accusers were "motivated by money", describing them as credible witnesses who "just had enough of the secret of the truth that they have been carrying around for many years".
"Society, possibly in 2023, is more sympathetic to women than it is to men in these circumstances," she said. "Men, one might think, are expected to behave like women did for years: 'just put up with it, get on with it, don't worry about it, it is just one of those things'."
Such attitudes had allowed "people like the defendant ... (to) get away with this type of behaviour for so long", Agnew said.
Referring to character witnesses called by Spacey, she said: "He is undoubtedly someone who is kind to those he chooses to be kind to. History is littered with those that are benevolent to some and cruel to others."
Spacey's lawyers are due to make their closing arguments on Thursday.
