Kevin Spacey broke down in tears in court on Thursday as he denied sexually abusing four men in their 20s and 30s between 2001 and 2013.

The Hollywood star, 63, told Southwark crown court that his "world exploded" when sexual abuse allegations against him first emerged in 2017, saying: "I lost everything."

He said his acting work dried up and his fortune dwindled in the face of mounting legal bills. He said there was a "rush to judgment" and that he lost his job, reputation and everything in a matter of days.

Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner, appeared in the witness box as he gave evidence in his month-long trial. He faces 12 charges, which include seven of sexual assault, three of indecent assault, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

He denies all the charges and claims that any sexual contact he had with the complainants was consensual.

Wearing a charcoal grey suit and a blue tie, he recounted his career and how he had gone to acting school with Val Kilmer. He shared showbiz anecdotes including buying Dame Judi Dench a ping-pong table and purchasing "the most expensive Mini Cooper ever" at a charity auction hosted by Elton John.

But he became emotional as he described feeling "crushed" when he found out that a man he had been "intimate" with had accused him of assaulting him in the early 2000s.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has claimed that on one occasion he was driving Spacey to a party hosted by Elton John when Spacey grabbed his penis with such force that he almost crashed.

Spacey denied assaulting the man on the way to the singer's white tie and tiara ball, saying: "No, I was not on a suicide mission in any of those years."

He said he was a "flirt" and a "big flirt" and that he had a sexual but not penetrative relationship with the man. He said it did not happen in a "violent, aggressive, painful way" but was "gentle and touching and in my mind romantic".

He said he was "stabbed in the back" by the man who made the allegations 20 years later.

Spacey also addressed an October 2017 BuzzFeed article that featured an allegation by the American actor Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of an unwanted sexual advance. The allegation was found not proven in a civil court in October last year.

Spacey told the packed courtroom: "My world exploded." He said there were further rumours in the wake of the article and that his sponsorship deals and contracts were "abandoned".

He also addressed the public statement he made in the wake of the allegation in which he came out as gay. He said members of the LGBTQ+ community were upset because he came out while he was responding to an accusation. He said he now understood why it was read that way but he had not put those two things together.

Spacey denied claims made by three other men who accused him of sexually assaulting them in different occasions and locations.

One man claimed that Spacey met him at a West End theatre in the mid-2000s and grabbed his crotch "like a cobra" after making a "barrage of vile comments".

Spacey denied the attack, saying: "I never said any of the things that he claims I said to him, and wouldn't, and never have to anyone in my life."

Another man claimed that Spacey drugged him before performing a sex act on him while he was asleep in 2008.

Spacey said they had shared "an intimate" moment before the man became "suddenly awkward and fumbling". He said: "I believe I performed oral sex on him. I remember the end of the evening and that was what stuck in my mind because we had a consensual and, I believe, a very nice and lovely evening."

The fourth man claimed that Spacey sexually grabbed him after meeting him at a pub near Oxford in the early 2010s.

Spacey said he had "primarily" no issue with the man's testimony. He said: "I made a pass and I'm only happy that he testified that the moment he told me he was not interested, I stopped."

The trial continues.