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Elton John and David Furnish have taken the stand as part of Kevin Spacey’s defense in the actor’s trial for sexual assault in the UK
John and Furnish presented evidence separately via video link from Monaco. They were called to testify in relation to Kevin Spacey’s attendance at the couple’s annual White Ball and Tiara Ball in the early 2000s and whether Spacey visited their Windsor home separately from the ball.
John, who played his last gig as a touring artist in Sweden last week, was dressed in a black blazer and white T-shirt with orange tinted glasses.
Asked if he recognized one of the alleged victims who accused Kevin Spacey of sexual assault, he said he did not recognize the man or his name.
John also asked about Spacey’s presence at the White Tie and Tiara Ball, which has been held annually for “maybe 15 or 16 years” at John and Furnish’s home in Windsor. The event was hosted by the Elton John AIDS Foundation and sponsored by OK Magazine, who will provide photographers and publish the resulting photos in their magazine.
John said he remembers Spacey arriving at the event in 2001 because he “arrived in a white tie. He came on a private jet and came straight to the ball,” John told the prosecuting attorney, Christine Agnew KC.
When Agnew asked if Spacey came straight from the private jet, John replied with a smile: “I suppose so, yes. I don’t think he ever wore a white tie on a commercial flight.”
“No one ever knows, I suppose,” Agnew said quietly.
Furnish, who was dressed in a black jacket, white shirt, tan shorts and deck shoes without socks, was questioned about Spacey’s presence at the ball. Furnish testified that Spacey only attended one of the balls, in 2001.
Pressed as to whether a House of Cards representative had attended the ball any other year, Furnish was adamant that he had not attended the ball. Furnish said he looked at OK’s photo archives and couldn’t find any photographs of Spacey at the event in any year but 2001.
When asked if it would have been possible for Spacey to attend the ball and not be photographed, Furnish replied that if “a star of Kevin Spacey’s size” showed up and refused to be photographed, it created an “impossible situation” for the establishment.
“It never happened,” Furnish said. “The understanding was that we were promoting a charity that involved breaking the stigma around the disease and if a celebrity wanted to come they would be photographed and look in good shape.”
Spacey pleaded guilty to 12 counts of sexual assault against four men at Southwark Crown Court in London, UK. The case, which has entered its fourth week, continues.
More is coming…
