LONDON — Actor Kevin Spacey has been formally charged with sexual offenses against three men in Britain and is expected to appear in a court in London this week, British police said Monday.

Spacey, 62, is accused of four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

Spacey is due to appear at London's Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013. The victims are now in their 30s and 40s.

The Crown Prosecution Service authorized charges against Spacey last month.

Spacey, a double Academy Award winner, was questioned by British police in 2019 about claims by several men that he had assaulted them. The former “House of Cards” star ran London’s Old Vic theater between 2004 and 2015.

Spacey won a best supporting actor Academy Award for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and a lead actor Oscar for the 1999 movie “American Beauty.”

But his celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.

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First, the Sydney Morning Herald tried to out Rebel Wilson and her new girlfriend. Then, when she beat the outlet to the punch and broke her own news, the Australian newspaper complained that it didn’t get to publish the scoop. Finally, the reporter admitted Monday that he messed up.

“I genuinely regret that Rebel has found this hard,” senior journalist Andrew Horney wrote in a new column about his “mistakes.”

“That was never my intention. But I see she has handled it all with extraordinary grace. As a gay man I’m well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts. The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.”

Wilson, best known for playing Fat Amy in the “Pitch Perfect” movies, revealed her new relationship Friday, posting an Instagram selfie with her “Disney princess” Ramona Agruma. But Wilson’s announcement wasn’t a cheery moment of joy, but rather a response to the Herald’s email days earlier that they were going to report on her and her girlfriend.

Horney confirmed the email Monday.

“In the interests of transparency and fairness, before publishing I am reaching out to Rebel to see if she will engage in what I believe is a happy and unexpected news story for her, especially given the recent Pride celebrations,” the email read, he wrote in his column.

Wilson never responded to the email, but took matters into her own hands.

In a “Private Sydney” column Saturday, Horney blasted Wilson for scooping him on her own personal life, saying she “opted to gazump the story.”

“Her choice to ignore our discreet, genuine and honest queries was, in our view, underwhelming,” he wrote.

That column has since been deleted, Horney said. In its place is his Monday admission that the “framing” of his original email made it seem like a threat to the actress.

“The Herald and I will approach things differently from now on to make sure we always take into consideration the extra layer of complexities people face when it comes to their sexuality,” he wrote.

“Celebrities have huge influence in our culture. We still have to ask questions, sometimes very difficult ones. It would be much worse to write gossip items about the unscripted events in their lives without them having a chance to have their say. But we need to make it clear that a deadline is not an ultimatum.”

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Original “Scream” stars Matthew Lillard and Jamie Kennedy have voiced their support for Neve Campbell after the actor walked away from the sixth film in the horror franchise because of a salary dispute.

On Sunday, Lillard stood up for Campbell via Twitter after advocating for her in an interview last week. In the first “Scream” film, Lillard starred as high school student Stu Macher opposite Campbell’s protagonist, Sidney Prescott.

“The fact that Neve Campbell isn’t getting paid her worth is straight up sexism,” the “Scooby-Doo” actor tweeted. “I think it’s horrible. There. I said it.”

Lillard’s latest comments came on the heels of a Twitter Spaces conversation he had last Tuesday with Midnite Movie Club, during which he compared Campbell’s trajectory in the “Scream” franchise to Tom Cruise’s in the “Top Gun” movies.

“Did Tom Cruise take less money for (‘Top Gun: Maverick’)? F— no dude,” Lillard said. “So why is a woman supposed to take less? Why wouldn’t you pay her more as the series goes on? ... Was ‘Scream 5' a hit or not a hit? It was a smash hit. Did they make a s— ton of money? Yes.”

The “Robot Chicken” voice actor, who also made cameos in a couple of the “Scream” sequels, called the circumstances of Campbell’s departure infuriating while hailing his former cast mate as “a female lead of one of the most successful horror franchises.”

“Should Neve Campbell be paid for the work she’s done in five movies of a franchise?” he said. “Yes.”

Kennedy, who played Randy Meeks in four of the five “Scream” films, also defended Campbell last week in a YouTube video, crediting his former co-star as “the original final girl.” In the horror genre, the term “final girl” refers to a brave female character — such as Campbell’s Sidney Prescott — who survives against all odds to confront the killer at the end of the movie.

“Sidney Prescott is the center of ‘Scream,’” Kennedy said.

“Neve Campbell is the face of ‘Scream.’ ... The franchise gets rebooted. The franchise is more popular than ever. ... How can you make ‘Scream’ without Sidney Prescott? ... It’s her story, her POV, her pain. Everything is her. She’s the heroine.”

Earlier this month, Campbell confirmed in a statement that she would not be returning for “Scream 6" after contract negotiations for the next installment went south. Other legacy “Scream” stars — including Courteney Cox and Hayden Panettiere — are set to reprise their roles for the forthcoming film, which is slated to open on March 31, 2023. Jenna Ortega of “Scream 5" is also set to return.

“As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to ‘Scream,’” Campbell said.

“I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”

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From combined wire services.