A Massachusetts judge on Monday denied Kevin Spacey’s request to be excused from his arraignment in Nantucket District Court next week.
Judge Thomas Barrett denied the request without offering further information regarding his decision.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by CNN, authorities have video of an alleged 2016 groping incident involving Spacey and a busboy at the Club Car, a Nantucket, Massachusetts, bar and restaurant.
The accuser, then 18, told police he told Spacey he was a 23-year-old Wake Forest University student.
Police have video of Kevin Spacey groping a busboy, complaint says
CNN has reached out to Spacey’s attorney for comment.
Spacey intends to plead not guilty and wanted to waive his right to be physically present at his January 7 arraignment on charges of indecent assault and battery, according to court documents obtained by CNN.
“I am requesting that this court excuse my physical presence at the arraignment as I reside out-of-state and believe that my presence will amplify the negative publicity already generated in connection with this case,” an affidavit from Spacey filed in advance of Monday’s decision read.
The Oscar winner appears to be inching his way back into public life.
Spacey was videotaped Sunday in Baltimore bringing a pizza to a photographer who has been staking him out. He has not responded to requests for comment on the allegations in the Nantucket case.
On avideo posted by TMZ, the former “House of Cards” star tells the photographer, “It’s not a big deal. Appreciate what you’re doing.”
Spacey then adds, “Try to stay warm and have a happy new year” as he walks away.
Spacey has remained mostly off the radar since November 2017 after an explosive Buzzfeed News article. In it, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him in 1986 when he was 14 and Spacey was 26.
Spaceytweeted an apology at the time, saying, “I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.”
“The Usual Suspects” star also used the apology to come out as gay.
Netflix fired Spacey from his hit show following a CNN reportin which current and former members of the “House of Cards” production staff alleged sexual harassment.
This latest complaint came more than a year after the accuser’s mother, former New England TV news anchor Heather Unruh, came forward to accuse Spacey of sexually assaulting her son.
Unruh held a press conference in November 2017 saying her son “panicked” and “froze” before he fled the bar while Spacey went to the bathroom.
Last week Spacey posted a video on Twitterspeaking directly to the camera as his “House of Cards” character Frank Underwood, who was killed off the show after Spacey was fired.
“Of course, some believed everything and have just been waiting with bated breath to hear me confess it all,” he said, using the character’s Southern accent. “They’re just dying to have me declare that everything said is true and that I got what I deserved. Wouldn’t that be easy if it was all so simple? Only you and I both know it’s not that simple, not in politics and not in life.”
