LONDON — Actor Kevin Spacey will be charged with seven further sex offenses in Britain, all relating to the same alleged victim, U.K. prosecutors said Wednesday. It brings the number of charges the Hollywood star faces in the U.K. to 12.

Britain’s Crown Prosecution said Wednesday that charges against the former “House of Cards” star are three of indecent assault, three of sexual assault and one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. The charges relate to incidents between 2001 and 2004.

The prosecuting authority approved the charges following “a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation,'' said Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division.

Spacey, a double Academy Award winner, has already pleaded not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted three men between 2004 and 2015 when he was the artistic director at the Old Vic theater in London.

His trial is due to start on June 6, 2023 and last for three to four weeks. It is likely to be at the Old Bailey, the venue for Britain’s highest-profile criminal trials.

He also faces a Dec. 16 court hearing on the new charges.

Spacey, who has addresses in London and the U.S., was granted bail and allowed to return to the United States after a preliminary hearing in June.

Spacey, 63, 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.”

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. Last month, a jury at a civil trial in New York cleared Spacey of those allegations.

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Billy Ray Cyrus and fellow singer Firerose have made their engagement official in a new interview with People magazine.

The “Achy Breaky Heart” hitmaker revealed Wednesday that he met his new fiancée, an Australian musician, 12 years ago while working on the popular Disney Channel series, “Hannah Montana.” Cyrus, 61, and Firerose, 34, seemingly went public with their engagement last month by sharing a photo of her diamond ring on Instagram.

“She’s the real deal,” Cyrus told People.

News of the betrothal resurfaced this week after the happy couple recounted their meet-cute story in detail to People. Cyrus — who starred in “Hannah Montana” opposite his on- and off-screen daughter, Miley Cyrus — recalled seeing Firerose for the first time while taking a break with his dog, Tex, near the set of the sitcom.

“I loved doing that show,” he told people. “There's a couple old pine trees on the lot that look like Tennessee. Tex and I would go out there in the middle of the day and he'd take care of his business and we'd stretch and I'd think how much I missed Tennessee. On that given day, Firerose came out of the front door. There was almost a moment of … recognition. I was like, ‘This girl's a star.’”

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It's official: Mariah Carey can't be the only artist to wear the “Queen of Christmas” crown.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board on Tuesday terminated Carey's bid to trademark the title after the musician and her company, Lotion LLC, failed to respond to fellow singer Elizabeth Chan's opposition to Carey's trademark claim.

Carey's “Queen of Christmas” trademark would have allowed her to brand a wide range of products, including fragrances, lotions, nail polish, jewelry, cups, mugs, sweatshirts, food and drink, ornaments and music, according to her application filed with the U.S. Trademark Office in March 2021.

Carey's claim to the Christmas throne seemed legitimate. The multi-Grammy-winning pop singer's 1994 single “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is a staple of the holiday season. A year ago it became the first holiday single to be certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America.

But when Carey's attempt to trademark “Queen of Christmas” became public in July, several other singers associated with the holiday — including Darlene Love, whose “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” is another seasonal classic — protested Carey's move.

“Is it true that Mariah Carey trade marked 'Queen of Christmas'?” Love wrote on Facebook in August. “What does that mean that I can't use that title? David Letterman officially declared me the Queen of Christmas 29 years ago, a year before she released 'All I want For Christmas Is You' and at 81 years of age I'm NOT changing anything.”

Love promptly celebrated the trademark board's decision.

“Thank you, Lord!!” Love wrote Tuesday on Facebook. “Congrats to all the other Queen of Christmases around the world, living and whom have passed!”

Chan, who filed the opposition to Carey's trademark in August, has made a career out of Christmas music albums and calls herself “the world's only full-time pop Christmas recording artist.” She also welcomed Tuesday's news ofCarey losing her trademark bid.

“Christmas is a season of giving, not the season of taking, and it is wrong for an individual to attempt to own and monopolize a nickname like Queen of Christmas for the purposes of abject materialism,” Chan said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.

She said her goal was to protect against “trademark bullying” and to allow other artists such as herself to continue using the title.

The trademark board also rejected Carey's application to trademark “Princess Christmas,” due to Chan's opposition. However, Carey's bid to trademark “Christmas Princess” is still pending and so far has not seen any opposition. Carey published a children's book with the same name in 2021 and features herself as a child as the main character.

In recent years, Carey has capitalized on Christmas branding. In 2020, she released an Apple+ Christmas special, which garnered a Primetime Emmy nomination. This December, Carey plans to showcase a mini Christmas tour, including a pair of shows at Madison Square Garden in New York.

On Halloween night, Carey posted an Instagram reel in which the pop singer was dressed in a black catsuit and witch's hat while pedaling on a workout bike in a spooky, barren forest. Then, after a menacing laugh, the black-and-white frame gave way to amber Christmas lights and sparkling gifts.

Carey then sat atop a stuffed reindeer, her blond locks glowing, dressed in her iconic red Santa jumpsuit. “It's time,” she sang in her signature whistle note, ushering in the opening chords of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and what Carey called in the caption "#MariahSZN.”

From combined wire services