The male massage therapist who was suing Kevin Spacey for alleged sexual battery is dead, according to a new court filing. The actor's legal team filed a notice of plaintiff's death in federal court in Los Angeles Tuesday, the New York Daily News reports. The filing says the legal team was told of the recent death by the plaintiff's lawyer September 11. The unnamed massage therapist accused Spacey of forcing him to touch the actor's genitals, along with other alleged misdeeds, during a Malibu massage in 2016. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had launched an investigation of the claims in May 2018, though the current status of the probe is not clear. The "John Doe" lawsuit was headed to trial next year, per the Week.
Spacey, 60, has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen men including Star Trek star Anthony Rapp. The Los Angeles District Attorney had declined to file charges in another case dating to 1992, and in July, Massachusetts prosecutors dropped a case against Spacey when the accuser stopped cooperating with authorities; a civil suit connected to the Massachusetts case had also been dropped. The Hollywood Reporter describes the massage therapist's lawsuit as "the most significant legal situation" remaining for Spacey after the Massachusetts case was dropped. Though the plaintiff's heirs could conceivably continue the lawsuit, they would likely be required to identify the anonymous accuser in order to do so. The loss of the plaintiff as a witness to the alleged sexual assault could also make litigation tricky. (More Kevin Spacey stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
