Kevin Spacey Accuser Ari Behn Dead at 47 From Suicide

Ari Behn
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Behn was the ex-husband of Norwegian princess Martha Louise.

Ari Behn, an author and the former husband of Norwegian princess Martha Louise, died by suicide on Christmas Day, Behn's family spokesman Geir Håkonsund told CNN on Thursday. He was 47 years old.

"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," Håkonsund said in a statement. In a separate statement issued on Wednesday, King Harald and Queen Sonja called Behn "an important part of our family for many years, and we carry warm, fond memories of him."

Two years ago he came forward publicly saying that actor Kevin Spacey had once grabbed him intimately when the actor hosted a Nobel Prize concert. 

Ian Gavan/Getty Images

"I have a little #MeToo story about Kevin Spacey," Behn said in an interview with Norway's radio P4 in 2017. "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."

This is the second of Spacey's accusers to die this year.  In October, CBS News reported that Los Angeles prosecutors have rejected a sexual battery case against the actor after the alleged victim in the cased died. Earlier in the year, Massachusetts prosecutors dropped a criminal case against Spacey over accusations that he groped an 18-year-old man in 2016.On Christmas Eve, Spacey released a message on YouTube seemingly in character as his House of Cards character, Frank Underwood. 

"You didn't really think I was going to miss the opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas, did you? 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 said in the Christmas Eve video as he's seated on a fireplace. 

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