Kevin Spacey Accuser Abruptly Drops Civil Suit Connected to Nantucket Criminal Case

Complaint, which was filed last week, has been dropped “with prejudice and without costs to any party”

kevin spacey
Getty Images

A man who accused Kevin Spacey of groping him at a bar in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 2016, an accusation for which the actor currently faces a criminal charge, abruptly dropped a civil suit against Spacey for damages on Friday.

The five-page civil complaint, which was filed last week in a Nantucket superior court, had sought an unspecified amount for damages claiming that the teenage man has “suffered, and will continue to suffer in the future severe mental distress and emotional injuries.”

However, on Friday morning, the accuser’s attorney Mitchell Garabedian sent TheWrap a copy of a court document noting that his client is voluntarily dropping the lawsuit “with prejudice and without costs to any party.” This means that the plaintiff is forbidden from filing another lawsuit based on the same grounds.

“Plaintiff states that because no adverse party has served an answer or motion for summary judgment in this matter, Plaintiff is voluntarily dismissing this civil action,” the court filing states.

No explanation for the decision was given and Garabedian declined further comment due to the pending criminal case.

An attorney for Spacey did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Spacey is still facing criminal charges connected to the incident, which was reported in November of last year, when former Boston news anchor Heather Unruh accused the actor of groping her then 18-year-old son at a Nantucket bar in 2016, specifically “touching and fondling” his genitals.

The former “House of Cards” star has denied the accusations, and in January, Spacey appeared at an arraignment and entered a plea of “not guilty” on a charge of felony indecent assault and battery.

In 2017, Unruh said in a press conference that her son was at the bar The Club Car in Nantucket where Spacey purchased alcohol for him until he was drunk and then reached into her son’s pants and grabbed his genitals. She added that Spacey then urged her son to come with him to an after-hours party to drink more, but he fled the bar when Spacey excused himself to use the bathroom.

Court documents also state  that investigators have obtained Snapchat footage of the incident taken by the victim, though Spacey’s attorneys contend that the footage is not incriminating.

 

Comments