Police are investigating an allegation of sexual assault made against the Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey, the Guardian understands.
Officers from Scotland Yard’s child abuse and sexual offences team are looking into claims a man was sexually assaulted in London in 2008, while Spacey was working in the UK capital as the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre.
“On 1 November, City of London police referred an allegation of sexual assault to the Metropolitan police service,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said on Friday. “It is alleged a man assaulted another man in 2008 in Lambeth. Officers from the child abuse and sexual offences command are investigating.”
The Met declined to confirm the identity of the alleged perpetrator, but it is believed to be 58-year-old Spacey. A spokesman said it had no record of any arrests having been made in connection with the investigation and police declined to comment on a report from the Sun that the complainant had been interviewed by police.
According to the paper, the man, now aged 32, alleged that Spacey abused him after he passed out at Spacey’s home, where they had shared a drink after the complainant, then aged 23, asked Spacey to help him with his career.
The Sun reported the man’s claims that he awoke to find Spacey performing a sexual act on him, told him to stop and left after Spacey warned him to keep quiet about it.
Spacey has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple current and former employees of the TV show House of Cards, as the scandal surrounding him continues to grow.
Allegations against Spacey include a claim of sexual assault made by a former crew member on the Netflix drama, according to a report by CNN. Other employees on the series said he had created a “toxic” work environment on set through his behaviour.
CNN said it had heard from eight people about Spacey’s alleged conduct. The news network said the individuals, who were all former or current employees on the show, had spoken on the condition of anonymity, fearing “professional repercussions” if they made their claims public.
