THIRD Kevin Spacey Accuser Dies Suddenly

From the AP:

Scandinavian writer Ari Behn — the ex-husband of Norwegian Princess Martha Louise and among the people who had accused actor Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct — died this week, his manager said. He was 47.

Behn died by suicide Wednesday, his manager told the Norwegian news service NTB. Authorities said he was found at his home in Norway. 

The Norwegian royal family said in a written statement that Behn was “an important part of our family for many years and we carry warm and good memories of him with us.”

Behn, who was Danish-born, and Martha Louise, the oldest daughter of Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja, were married for 14 years. The couple divorced in 2017 and have three children. 

The match had critics before it even became official. Negative coverage dogged Behn after a Las Vegas travelogue he hosted on Norwegian TV in the early 2000s briefly showed him around prostitutes, some of them using cocaine.

Behn said at the time that it was mere reporting, not endorsement, and Martha Louise defended him.

Behn also wrote books and plays, including 1999′s “Trist som faen,” or “Sad as Hell,” a short story collection that was translated into several languages.

In 2017, Behn accused Spacey of groping him under the table at a Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo a decade earlier. It didn’t appear that Behn ever pursued criminal charges or a lawsuit against Spacey.

Spacey didn’t comment on the allegations at the time, which came amid a string of similar accusations. A lawyer for Spacey didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.

Behn’s death came a day after Spacey, 60, released 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.

Spacey was dropped from “Cards” after several people stepped forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. The final season aired last year.

Massachusetts prosecutors this year dropped a criminal case alleging the Oscar winner groped an 18-year-old man at a bar on the resort island of Nantucket in 2016. The unnamed accuser in that case invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify about text messages from the night of the alleged encounter.

Variety confirms this is the third:

Ari Behn, Norwegian author and and ex-husband of princess Märtha Louise, died by suicide on Dec. 25. He was 47.

“It is with great sadness in our hearts that we, the very closest relatives of Ari Behn, must announce that he took his own life today. We ask for respect for our privacy in the time to come,” Behn’s family spokesman Geir Håkonsund said in a statement.

Behn married princess Märtha Louise in 2002 and announced their separation in 2016. The divorce was finalized in 2017.

During an interview with Norway’s radio P4 in December 2017, Behn recounted an incident with Kevin Spacey when the actor hosted a Nobel Prize concert.

“I have a little #MeToo story about Kevin Spacey,” Behn said. “We were having a nice chat where we spoke about theater and drama, and the little theater, the Wick, a theater in London. We had a good conversation sitting beside each other. After five minutes he said ‘Hey, let’s go out and have a cigarette,’ then he grabbed me under the table right in the balls.”

Spacey, who has been accusing of assaulting several men, did not respond at the time of the allegation.

Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja released a statement on Wednesday, calling Behn “an important part of our family for many years, and we carry warm, fond memories of him. We are grateful that we got to know him. We grieve that our grandchildren have now lost their beloved father — and have deep compassion for his parents and siblings, who have now lost their beloved son and brother.”

Behn was born in Denmark in 1972. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Oslo. He published his first collection of short stories “Trist som faen,” which translates to “Sad as Hell,” to good reviews. He went on to write two more short story collections, three plays and co-authored a book with princess Märtha Louise about their wedding in 2002.

Behn is the third Kevin Spacey accuser to die this year, following whistleblower Linda Culkin and the anonymous massage therapist who accused Spacey of sexual assault in an October 2016 session.

Behn is survived by his three children with princess Märtha Louise.

And from Rolling Stone:

An author and former Norwegian royal who accused Kevin Spacey of groping him died by suicide at the age of 47 Wednesday. Ari Behn — who said in 2017 that the disgraced actor groped him during a Nobel Peace Prize concert in 2007 — is the second Spacey accuser to die in the past three months.

“It’s with great sorrow in our hearts that we, those closest to Ari Behn, must report that he took his own life today. We ask for respect for our private lives in the time to come,” Behn’s manager told Norwegian newspaper VG (via The Hollywood Reporter). 

Behn was married to Norwegian Princess Martha Louise from 2002 to 2016, and in recent years was candid about his battles with alcoholism.

Spacey served as co-host of the Nobel Peace Prize concert when the alleged incident occurred. “We had a nice conversation, he was sitting right next to me,” Behn told a Norwegian radio station in 2017. “After five minutes, he says, ‘Hey, let’s go out and have a cigarette.’ And then he takes me under the table in the middle of my balls. I got more than I bargained for.”

In September, an alleged victim of Spacey’s also died; that John Doe, a long-time massage therapist, sued the actor in September 2018, alleging that Spacey sexually assaulted him during a massage session. Following the John Doe’s death, the lawsuit was put on hold.

News of Behn’s death comes after Spacey uploaded a House of Cards-inspired Christmas Eve video for the second straight year. In the bizarre video, Spacey, as Frank Underwood, says,  “The next time someone does something you don’t like, you can go on the attack. But you can also hold your fire and do the unexpected. You can… kill them with kindness.”