Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines June 12
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Kevin Spacey addressed his connection to the late Jeffrey Epstein, saying he barely knew the financier.
The 64-year-old actor explained he was invited on an eight-day humanitarian trip to Africa in 2002 by former President Clinton when he met Epstein.
"It was primarily to raise awareness and prevention for AIDS, and particularly for mothers who had HIV to get the medication they needed to not pass it onto their children, so I said ‘yes, absolutely,’" the former "House of Cards" star told Piers Morgan.
On the trip, Spacey said they met with doctors along with nurses and spent a day with Nelson Mandela.
‘HOUSE OF CARDS’ STAR KEVIN SPACEY SLAMS SEXUAL ASSAULT CLAIMS RESURFACED IN NEW DOC
Kevin Spacey, left, denied any close connection to the late Jeffrey Epstein. (Getty Images)
Spacey was later named in the list of passengers on Epstein's "Lolita Express," drawing speculation that he was involved in any of the alleged sex trafficking done by Epstein. Spacey denied a close friendship with Epstein.
"I have since learned who he is, and I have since been able to go back and find out that the airplane that we flew on for this humanitarian mission was owned by Jeffrey Epstein," Spacey told Morgan.
"I didn’t know him," he emphasized. "I have never spent any time with him. I was with the Clinton Foundation people, that’s who I was with."
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell on Aug. 19, 2019, weeks after he was arrested on six counts of sex trafficking minors.
Kevin Spacey claimed he only flew on Jeffrey Epstein's plane after being invited on a trip by former President Clinton. (Getty Images)
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Kevin Spacey was found not guilty on sexual assault charges in 2023. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
The actor, who was found not guilty on sexual assault charges in 2023, noted he was actually suspicious of Epstein and thought Clinton was "at risk."
"I didn’t want to be around this guy because I felt he put the president at risk on that trip to South Africa, because there were these young girls," he recalled. "We were like, ‘Who is this guy?’"
"There’s a big difference between not remembering that I met some guy and some woman on a humanitarian trip where my focus was entirely on what we were there to do, and not remembering whether I went to somebody’s island," Spacey added.
A representative for Spacey did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Jeffrey Epstein's mugshot taken following his 2019 arrest. The financier was charged with six counts of sex trafficking minors weeks before he was found dead in his jail cell. (Kypros/Getty Images)
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Spacey was previously named by Epstein's former pilot, Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr., during testimony for Maxwell's sex trafficking trial in 2021. He claimed Spacey had once flown in one of Epstein's planes.
A victim of Epstein, Johanna Sjoberg, was asked about Spacey in unsealed court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
However, Sjoberg denied meeting the actor.
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