Kevin Spacey has been ordered to appear before a court to formally hear charges of sexual assault next week, after a judge refused the disgraced actor’s request to be excused from the hearing.

The 59 year old former Oscar winner has been told he must attend court in Massachusetts next Monday (January 7th) to formally hear one count of felony indecent assault and battery. The charge relates to an alleged incident where a then-18 year old claimed the actor got him drunk at the Club Car Restaurant, in Nantucket, before sexually assaulting him in 2016.

Spacey is set to plead not guilty to the charge.

His defence team had argued in a pre-trial motion on Monday (December 31st) that he should be excused from appearing, because his presence would “amplify the negative publicity already generated in connection with this case”, according to TMZ.

Kevin SpaceyKevin Spacey has been ordered to appear in person at court

His lawyer, Juliane Balliro, claimed in court documents that Spacey's appearance would only “heighten prejudicial media interest in the case” and increase the risk of contaminating the jury pool.

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However, Nantucket district court judge Thomas Barrett took a dim view of the request, and ruled that Spacey must be present in person at next week’s hearing.

Spacey was one of many famous men to be accused of sexual misconduct in late 2017, when actor Anthony Rapp came forward with allegations that Spacey made unwanted sexual advances against him as a teenager.

Many other men came forward to make similar allegations, and Spacey was kicked off Netflix series ‘House of Cards’ and erased from Ridley Scott’s film All The Money in the World.

In December, Spacey appeared to break his lengthy silence over the allegations, releasing a YouTube video in the guise of his former ‘House of Cards’ character Frank Underwood. In it, he told the camera: “You trusted me even though you knew you shouldn’t. So we’re not done, no matter what anyone says, and I know what you want. You want me back.”

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