Kevin Spacey took the stand in a Santa Monica courtroom this week and dropped a bombshell: he’s not a sex addict, and he claims an Arizona rehab center wanted him to be one for their own gain. The disgraced actor testified that staff at The Meadows, a luxury treatment facility he entered in 2017 amid a wave of sexual misconduct allegations, pushed for a diagnosis they could use to trot him out as a celebrity spokesperson. Kevin Spacey denies sex addiction forcefully, telling jurors he only discovered the diagnosis after the fact.
The testimony comes during a complex civil trial pitting “House of Cards” production company MRC against its insurer over a nine-figure payout tied to the show’s imploded final season. Spacey struck a deal to testify and hand over medical records in exchange for slashing a $31 million judgment against him to just $1 million. But once on the stand, he refused to play along with the narrative.
Spacey acknowledged reading his psychiatric discharge summary from The Meadows aloud in court: “Other specified obsessive and related behaviors, sexual compulsive behavior, generalized anxiety disorder”. When asked if he had medical basis to challenge it, he answered no. But the distinction matters. “I can’t professionally dispute that, but I can personally dispute it,” he testified.
The actor claims he entered treatment to examine his life during a period of collapse, not because he believed he had an addiction. “I 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,” he said. He wanted answers. What he got, he alleges, was a facility eager to manufacture a condition for their benefit.
The most striking claim came when Spacey described conversations with the founder of The Meadows. According to his testimony, the rehab center’s founder approached him about becoming a celebrity spokesperson for sex addiction awareness. “It was very much obvious they wanted me to be a sex addict,” Spacey told the court.
He painted a picture of a facility eager to leverage his fame, noting that medical records contained comments attributed to him that he insists he never made. “Throughout the medical records, there are comments attributed to me I never said,” he testified, his voice rising. The records apparently referenced him having a British accent and a wife, details the unmarried, openly gay actor says prove their inaccuracy.
“They’re dealing with 29 other men. I have no idea how they take notes. I’m simply saying that’s not something I said because that’s not something I did”.
Spacey didn’t hold back his disdain for the clinical language used in his records. When asked to read a note stating, “Patient will hold himself accountable for the adverse impact of his problematic sexual behaviors on self and others,” he called it “a lot of gobbledygook”.
“I don’t speak this way. I don’t recognize it as something I would have said,” he told jurors. Other goals listed included improving his “ability to moderate multiple addictive or problematic behaviors” and addressing “sexual behavior and boundaries.” Spacey’s response? “I certainly think that boundaries are an important thing to recognize. I recognize that. I didn’t always read the room right” .
That last line landed with weight. Even as he disputes the addiction label, Spacey acknowledges moments where he got it wrong, just not to the degree his accusers claim.
The trial itself is a labyrinth. MRC argues Spacey’s removal from “House of Cards” season six stemmed from a legitimate illness covered by insurance. Fireman’s Fund, the insurer, counters that the production company axed Spacey due to media fallout from sexual assault allegations, not a qualifying medical condition.
Spacey’s testimony serves both sides awkwardly. He confirms the diagnosis existed on paper while personally rejecting it. He admits entering treatment while insisting he was “ready and willing” to film. He acknowledges policy violations while disputing the underlying accusations.
A psychiatric expert for MRC, Michael Genovese, painted a darker picture, testifying that Spacey contemplated suicide before entering The Meadows and was “unable to fulfill his duties on the set of House of Cards in 2017 as a result of this disease”. Spacey’s lawyers pushed back, noting he’s “feeling pretty good today” and that no healthcare provider has ever told him he has a fatal condition.
The trial continues for several more weeks, but Spacey’s testimony has already shifted the conversation. He’s been acquitted of sexual assault charges in London and found not liable in Anthony Rapp’s civil case. Now he’s fighting the narrative that stuck even when the legal system cleared him: that he’s a man with a problem he can’t control.
“Has any healthcare provider ever told you that you have a fatal condition?” his lawyer asked. Spacey said no. Then came the final question: “Do you believe or have you ever believed that you suffer from sex addiction?” The answer was simple. No.
