Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty Monday to indecently assaulting a teenager who alleged that the Oscar-winning US actor groped him in a bar in Massachusetts in 2016.
The "House of Cards" star, who faces five years in prison if convicted, is accused of repeatedly reaching down into the pants of a man identified as William Little, who was 18 at the time of the alleged attack at a Nantucket restaurant.
Spacey, dressed in a gray coat over a dark blazer and tie, was not asked for his plea during the brief arraignment in a crowded Nantucket courtroom, but his lawyer entered the denial on Spacey's behalf.
A follow-on hearing was scheduled for March 4, but Spacey is not required to attend.
The 59-year-old actor stood quietly with his hands clasped as the clerk read out the charge "that in the town of Nantucket on July 18, 2016 (the defendant) did commit indecent assault and battery on someone 14 and over."
"Only you and I both know it's never that simple, not in politics and not in life."
Mexican actor Roberto Cavazos, who performed in several Old Vic productions, said it seemed that "it only took a male under 30 to make Mr Spacey feel free to touch us."