Ari Behn, a respected Scandinavian author who accused Kevin Spacey of groping him at a Nobel Peace Prize concert, has committed suicide, according to friends and family.
»FROM 2016: Kevin Spacey visits Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
The 47-year-old former son-in-law of Norway's King Harald V took his own life on Christmas Day, confirmed his manager Geir Hakonsund, according to Norway Today.
"It is with great sadness in our hearts that we, the closest relatives of Ari Behn, must announce that he took his own life," Behn's representative said.
The manner of suicide was not revealed.
‘I was ... right up his alley’
Behn was married to Princess Martha Louise of Norway for 15 years. The couple divorced in 2017 and have three children, according to The Associated Press.
Credit: Ian Gavan
Credit: Ian Gavan
Behn claimed Spacey groped him in 2007.
"We had a great talk; he sat right beside me," Behn recalled in 2017. "After five minutes he said, 'Hey, let’s go out and have a cigarette.' Then he puts his hand under the table and grabs me ...”
Behn deflected by telling the two-time Oscar winner, “Er, maybe later.”
The writer, who was 35 at the time of the alleged incident, added, “My hair was dark at the time, I was 10 years younger and right up his alley,” according to the Mirror.
Behn wrote books and plays, including 1999's “Trist som faen,” or “Sad as Hell,” a short-story collection that was translated into several languages.
Kevin Spacey goes on YouTube
Behn's death came a day after Spacey, 60, posted a YouTube video in which he pretends to be Frank Underwood, the scheming politician he played in the Netflix series “House of Cards.” He did not address the cascade of allegations against him.
“You didn't really think I was going to miss the opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas, did you?" asks a sweater-clad Spacey in front of a roaring fireplace. “It's been a pretty good year, and I'm grateful to have my health back. And in light of that, I've made some changes in my life and I'd like to invite you to join me."
Spacey was dropped from “House of Cards” after several people stepped forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. The final season aired in 2018.
Two other deaths
Spacey has been accused of sexual misconduct by nearly a dozen men.
In one of those cases, an anonymous massage therapist who was suing the actor for an alleged sexual assault died this year in September.
The man, who has remained anonymous and is referred to in court filings as "John Doe," claimed in September 2018 that Spacey grabbed his genitals and forced him to grab Spacey's genitals during a massage in 2016 at a private residence in California, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Spacey denied the allegations.
Another player in the Spacey saga, Linda Culkin, was fatally struck crossing the street in Quincy, Massachusetts, in May.
The former nursing assistant had pleaded guilty to sending death threats and bomb threats to Spacey and his associates. She was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison in 2014.
Prosecutors said at the time that Culkin became obsessed with Spacey after a patient told her of being attacked by him.
Other charges dropped
Also this year, on July 5, another man who alleged the "House of Cards" actor groped him at a Massachusetts bar in 2016 dropped his civil lawsuit. On July 17, the criminal charges in the same case were dropped by the court due to "unavailability of the complaining witness."
Elsewhere, police in London have also said they are investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by Spacey, but there has been no public update on that inquiry for months.
— Information from The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
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