Prosecutors review sexual assault accusation against Kevin Spacey

LOS ANGELES - Reuters

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has opened a review of a sexual assault accusation against Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey, a spokesman for the prosecutor's said on April 11.

The county sheriff's department presented results of its investigation of the matter to the district attorney last week, five months after Spacey was fired from the Netflix television drama "House of Cards" over sexual misconduct accusations.

"A case was presented April 5 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department," district attorney spokesman Greg Risling said in an email to Reuters. "It's under review."

A spokeswoman for the actor, Laura Johnson, declined to comment on the matter.

The nature and origin of the sexual assault accusation under scrutiny by Los Angeles County authorities was not disclosed by the district attorney's office.

More than 30 men have come forward saying they were victims of unwanted sexual advances by Spacey, one of the most prominent Hollywood figures to be publicly accused of sexual misconduct since accusations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement on social media.

Spacey, 58, became embroiled in controversy last year when actor Anthony Rapp accused him of trying to seduce him in 1986 when Rapp was 14.

Spacey later apologized for any inappropriate conduct while denying any specific memory of the behavior in question. The film star also came under fire for using the occasion to acknowledge for the first time that he was gay, a statement gay advocates criticized as conflating issues of sexual wrongdoing with sexual orientation.

The fallout was swift and severe. In addition to being dropped from the sixth and final season of "House of Cards," Spacey was erased from the movie "All the Money in the World," and actor Christopher Plummer was brought in take over his role and reshoot all of Spacey's scenes.

Netflix reported a $39 million write-off on Spacey-related projects in January.

NBC News first reported on April 11 that a sexual assault case against Spacey had been presented to the district attorney's office.