London’s Old Vic theatre has reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with actor Ruari Cannon, one of three men pursuing civil sexual assault claims against Kevin Spacey at the High Court, as a pre-trial review in the case proceeded in London on Wednesday.
The theatre confirmed the agreement in a statement cited by the BBC, saying the settlement was reached without any admission of liability and that both parties had agreed not to comment further. Cannon, who has waived his right to anonymity, continues to pursue a separate civil claim against Spacey himself.
Cannon, who worked as an actor during Spacey’s tenure as artistic director at the Old Vic, alleged that Spacey assaulted him at an afterparty at the Savoy Hotel and on a separate occasion at the theatre’s bar in 2013. Spacey has denied the allegation, previously describing it as “ridiculous.”
Judge Christina Lambert set a provisional three-week trial window beginning 12 October 2026 for all three civil claims to be heard at the High Court. It remains to be decided whether the cases will proceed as a single combined trial or as three consecutive hearings. Prosecution lawyers have called for a joint trial to avoid multiple rounds of testimony, while the defence has argued the cases should be heard separately.
The two other claimants remain anonymous. One man, identified as LNP, alleges Spacey assaulted him roughly a dozen times between 2000 and 2005, while a second man, identified as GHI, claims Spacey assaulted him at the Old Vic in 2008, causing him psychiatric damage and financial loss.
Spacey, 66, has denied all the allegations. He has formally filed defences in two of the three cases and has not yet submitted a defence in the third.
The civil proceedings follow a 2023 criminal trial at Southwark Crown Court in which Spacey was acquitted of nine charges, including seven counts of sexual assault. He was also found not liable in a separate civil case in New York brought by actor Anthony Rapp.
Spacey has acknowledged what he described as past “bad behaviour” but has consistently denied groping men or leveraging his career status to obtain sexual favours.
