Actor Kevin Spacey has told a London court he was “crushed” when accused of sexual assault by several men.

The Oscar-winner has begun giving evidence in his trial on a dozen charges of sex offences against four men between 2001 and 2013.

The men were in their 20s and 30s at the time. 

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Mr Spacey told jurors at Southwark Crown Court he could not believe that one of the complainants, who alleges Spacey assaulted him on up to 12 occasions, would “stab me in the back”.

The four accusers said Mr Spacey aggressively groped them and in one case performed oral sex while they were passed out, with the prosecution calling him a “sexual bully”.

‘Sinister Spin’

His lawyer Patrick Gibbs told the jury on Thursday that the complainants had reimagined consensual encounters “with a sinister spin” or, in some cases, simply “made up” their accounts.

Mr Spacey, 63, entered the witness box on Thursday and was asked about one of the complainants, who alleges the actor repeatedly grabbed his “private areas” when they were alone.

His lawyer, Mr Gibbs, asked about his relationship with the man, to which Mr Spacey said: “I liked him greatly. We had a good time together. We laughed a lot.”

The actor described the complainant as “funny and charming and flirtatious”.

Asked if he himself was flirtatious, Mr Spacey replied: “Yeah. I’m a flirt, I’m a big flirt.”

He said that as his relationship with the complainant developed over time “it became somewhat sexual”.

Mr Spacey denied that it was non-consensual or aggressive.

“It didn’t happen in a violent, aggressive, painful way,” he said.

“It was gentle and it was touching and it was, in my mind, romantic.”

“We never had sex together because he made it clear that he didn’t want to go any further and that happens at times and you just respect how far someone wants to go.”

The 63-year-old American actor was one of the biggest stars of the stage, and silver and small screens, when sexual misconduct accusations brought his career to a halt.

If convicted, he could face a prison term. 

Mr Spacey is currently free on unconditional bail. 

The trial continues. 

ABC/Wires