[...] [Kevin] Spacey, 44, had reportedly been "brutally mugged" as he walked his dog in a London park at 4.30am on Saturday. The star, who won Oscars for The Usual Suspects and American Beauty, then contacted police some hours later and changed his story, according to the Daily Mirror.

To "come clean" and explain the walk-in-the-park incident, Spacey took the unusual step of offering an apology on the Today program.

"I just want to apologise to the police, and any readers and anyone who picks up this story thinking it is actually true," he said.

"I am very well and I am also glad to set the record straight here and also to apologise, because there is no reason that this article would have been written if it hadn't been for me and what I initially said to the police.

"What actually happened is, I fell for a con. And I was, I think, incredibly embarrassed by it. Some sob story about somebody needing to call their mother. It was such a good con, that I actually dialled the number myself and when somebody answered I then finally handed (over) my phone. And this kid took off and I was so upset I ran after him.

"I tripped up over my dog, and I ended up falling on to the street and hitting myself in the head. And now I'm bleeding relatively profusely, I'm extremely upset, I feel like the biggest fool that has ever lived.

"I march over to the police station and I say I got mugged. And I'm thinking they are going to run out and find this kid a block later. Of course, they take me to the hospital, and they were very kind."

The actor said he had returned to the police station later that morning to confess he had lied. [...]