{"id":516554,"date":"2026-03-11T07:03:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T07:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/516554\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T07:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T07:03:07","slug":"kevin-spacey-testifies-admits-sexual-compulsive-behavior-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/516554\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Spacey Testifies, Admits \u2018Sexual Compulsive Behavior’ Diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tKevin Spacey<\/a>, the former star of House of Cards, took the witness stand at a California civil trial Tuesday and acknowledged he was formally diagnosed with \u201csexual compulsive behavior\u201d in 2017 after he voluntarily entered an inpatient treatment program amid a wave of sexual misconduct allegations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe diagnosis appeared in a psychiatric summary issued when Spacey was discharged from The Meadows treatment facility in Arizona on Dec. 16, 2017. In a Santa Monica courtroom, Spacey was asked to read part of the summary of his diagnosis aloud.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOther specified obsessive and related behaviors, sexual compulsive behavior, generalized anxiety disorder,\u201d Spacey said, reading from a screen in the witness box. Asked whether he had \u201cany medical basis to challenge the diagnoses,\u201d he replied, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpacey further confirmed that his goal at The Meadows was to \u201caddress sexual behavior and boundaries.\u201d As his testimony continued, however, he expressed frustration with notes in his medical records written by the two main doctors who treated him. In one notation, a doctor wrote that Spacey had identified one of his \u201cproblem behaviors\u201d as \u201ctouching in public without permission.\u201d Spacey denied telling doctors that.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI can tell you that throughout the medical records, there are comments attributed to me I never said,\u201d he testified, his voice rising. He said the doctors\u2019 narrative notes contained obvious inaccuracies. \u201cThey have an idea that I had a British accent, that I have a wife,\u201d the unmarried, openly gay actor said. \u201cThey\u2019re dealing with 29 other men. I have no idea how they take notes. I\u2019m simply saying that\u2019s not something I said because that\u2019s not something I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin Spacey testified Tuesday at a trial over claims that an insurance company unfairly denied coverage related to Spacey’s 2017 departure from “House of Cards”<\/p>\n

Actor confirmed to jurors he was diagnosed with \u201csexual compulsive behavior\u201d<\/p>\n

Story incoming pic.twitter.com\/K32iG44j9W<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) March 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tSpacey was called to testify in a case pitting the production company behind House of Cards against its insurer over a nine-figure claim tied to the show\u2019s halted production in 2017 and its subsequent Season Six revisions. The disruption forced the award-winning series to scrap and rewrite what became its final season. At the time the allegations broke, the show was built around Spacey\u2019s character, President Frank Underwood.<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe defendant at the trial, Fireman\u2019s Fund Insurance Company, argued that its policy covered only losses resulting from a medically verified, incapacitating illness. According to the company, Spacey was suspended because of the media fallout surrounding the allegations, not because of any qualifying illness. FFIC contends that the production company, Media Rights Capital, placed the show on hiatus on Oct. 31, 2017, and simply never invited Spacey back.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpacey, 66, had been filming House of Cards on Oct. 29, 2017, when BuzzFeed published an article<\/a> in which actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey made a sexual advance toward him<\/a> during a gathering at Spacey\u2019s home in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Days later, CNN reported allegations from eight anonymous House of Cards crew members who accused Spacey of \u201cpredatory\u201d behavior, including instances in which he allegedly would initiate a handshake and pull a person\u2019s hand toward his crotch.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt a 2022 civil trial in Manhattan federal court<\/a>, a jury found Spacey not liable for the sexual misconduct claims brought by Rapp. In 2023, he was acquitted<\/a> of sexual assault charges in London related to four men. An arbitrator later found Spacey liable for a $31 million payment<\/a> to MRC. A three-member appellate panel upheld the award, leading Spacey to reach a settlement with MRC. Under the terms of the deal, the $31 million payment was reduced to $1 million because Spacey agreed to hand over medical records and testify in the insurance lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdam Ziffer, a lawyer for MRC, appeared focused Tuesday on persuading jurors that Spacey had a medical issue that persisted even after his release from The Meadows. He began by asking why Spacey sought treatment.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cI went there to try to help myself. I had just had a series of things happening in my life where my life felt like it was collapsing,\u201d Spacey testified. \u201cSo I went to take care of myself and to ask questions. I don\u2019t know if I knew at the time that I had a medical illness or a medical condition, but there were a lot of questions I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tZiffer then asked Spacey to read another medical note. \u201cPatient will hold himself accountable for the adverse impact of his problematic sexual behaviors on self and others,\u201d the document stated.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI continue to work on taking accountability for when I didn\u2019t get it right, but this is typical of the records where it\u2019s a lot of gobbledygook,\u201d Spacey told the jury. \u201cI don\u2019t speak this way. I don\u2019t recognize it as something I would have said.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOther medical notes listed goals such as improving Spacey\u2019s \u201cability to moderate multiple addictive or problematic behaviors\u201d and addressing \u201csexual behavior and boundaries.\u201d Spacey again expressed frustration on the witness stand.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s written in a way that I don\u2019t speak, so I don\u2019t recall saying that specific thing,\u201d he said. \u201cI certainly think that boundaries are an important thing to recognize. I recognize that. I didn\u2019t always read the room right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore entering treatment, Spacey said he found the allegations against him \u201cfrightening,\u201d though he did not believe they were true. \u201cI needed to ask myself some serious questions,\u201d he testified. \u201cI was trying to figure out where I had gotten it wrong, and could I make sure that I never put myself in a situation where someone questioned my motives again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMRC\u2019s lawyer then zeroed in on a doctor\u2019s notation that claimed Spacey\u2019s \u201cpending legal status\u201d appeared to be \u201can impediment\u201d to his \u201cengaging in full accountability work\u201d during his stay at The Meadows. The doctor wrote that Spacey might \u201cbenefit from a return to a residential level of care once his legal situation is more resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpacey testified that at the time, the only pending legal matter was his dispute with MRC. He said there remains one outstanding case against him in the United Kingdom, but he added that the legal process has largely been vindicating.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve been enormously happy that I\u2019ve had an opportunity to walk into courtrooms and defend myself and be found not guilty,\u201d he said. \u201cYou might not want to go through it, but if that\u2019s the place you have an opportunity to defend yourself with fairness and due process, then I\u2019m happy to be in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpacey also vehemently denied the allegations described in the CNN report, saying the eight anonymous accusers were not \u201clegitimate.\u201d He confirmed that he told an investigator for MRC that he never touched any crew members in a sexual way.<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked about the arbitration award, Spacey said he was found to have \u201cbroken an MRC policy,\u201d nothing more. Ziffer countered that the arbitrator found that the witnesses who testified against Spacey appeared credible.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNot each of them. Five of them,\u201d Spacey replied. He said the arbitrator concluded only that the allegations were \u201cmore likely\u201d true than not, a standard he described as \u201ca very low bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo, in your view, none of these occurred, because you don\u2019t misbehave on set?\u201d Ziffer asked, rhetorically. \u201cI think we\u2019ve got a good picture of how that accountability works,\u201d the lawyer scoffed.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnder questioning by Leon Gladstone, a lawyer for FFIC, Spacey was asked about his long career, including his two Academy Awards and his work on Broadway. Gladstone then asked about prior testimony from a medical expert who told the jury that sexual addiction can be a fatal condition.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cHas any healthcare provider ever told you that you have a fatal condition?\u201d Gladstone asked. Spacey said no and agreed he was \u201cfeeling pretty good today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDo you believe or have you ever believed that you suffer from sex addiction?\u201d Gladstone asked. Spacey again answered no. The trial then broke for a recess.<\/p>\n