NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Kevin Spacey pleads not guilty to groping young man at bar

NANTUCKET, Mass.

Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty Monday to groping an 18-year-old busboy in 2016 in the first criminal case brought against the disgraced actor after a string of sexual misconduct allegations that crippled his career.

Spacey’s court appearance came more than a year after former Boston TV anchor Heather Unruh accused the former “House of Cards” star of sexually assaulting her son in a bar on the Massachusetts resort island of Nantucket.

Nantucket District Court Judge Thomas Barrett ordered Spacey to stay away from his accuser and the man’s family. Spacey will not have to appear at his next hearing March 4, but he must be available by phone, Judge Barrett said.

The judge also ordered Spacey’s accuser and the man’s then-girlfriend to preserve text messages and other data on their cellphones from the day of the alleged assault and six months after. Spacey’s attorney, Alan Jackson, told the judge they believe the cellphones contain information that is “likely exculpatory” for Spacey.

The actor and his lawyers declined to comment as they left the courthouse amid a crush of reporters. Spacey, wearing a gray suit, navy vest and polka dot tie, didn’t speak during the hearing, and his lawyers entered the not-guilty plea on his behalf.

Top court won’t hear de Havilland’s case about TV miniseries

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court is declining to revive a lawsuit by Olivia de Havilland over the FX Networks miniseries “Feud: Bette and Joan,” which centered on the rivalry between actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

The high court on Monday said it would not take the actress’s case. That means a California appeals court’s decision throwing out the lawsuit stands. The appeals court unanimously ruled in 2018 that California law and the First Amendment required the lawsuit’s dismissal.

The 102-year-old de Havilland had objected to her depiction on the eight-part miniseries. She said her likeness was illegally used and her character, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, came across as a vulgar gossipmonger.

As is its usual practice, the Supreme Court did not say anything about the case in declining to hear it.

Associated Press