Kevin Spacey’s Request to Skip Arraignment Denied

Kevin Spacey’s request to skip his arraignment for a felony indecent assault and battery charge in Massachusetts was denied, The Wrap reports.

Spacey previously filed an affidavit saying that the actor wanted to skip the arraignment because he believes “that my presence will amplify the negative publicity already generated in connection with this case.”

As previously reported, Spacey is pleading not guilty and the arraignment has been set for Jan. 7 in Nantucket District Court

The charges stem from an incident that became public in November of last year when former Boston news anchor Heather Unruh accused Spacey of groping her then 18-year-old son at a bar in Nantucket in 2016. Court documents state that investigators have obtained Snapchat footage of the incident that the young man took.

Spacey’s lawyers have argued that the footage isn’t incriminating, and have stopped at nothing to discredit the victim. They argue that the young man supposedly could not have been assaulted, as he did not report it right away. Attorney Alan Jackson also argued to the judge that Unruh’s son did not move away or tell Spacey to stop.

“That’s an incredibly long time to have a strange man’s hands in your pants, correct?” Jackson reportedly asked in court.

The young man told the authorities that he couldn’t move away easily because the bar was full. He told investigators he tried to move away from Spacey and push away Spacey’s hands, but “Spacey kept reaching down his pants.”

The charge isn’t the only legal trouble Spacey finds himself in. There are criminal investigations into sexual assault accusations in Los Angeles and London, as well. After the accusations arose, Netflix fired spacey from the last season of House of Cards.

It also led to a lightning fast recast of his character in the Ridley Scott film All the Money in the World — actor Christopher Plummer reshot all of Spacey’s scenes in the movie.