The second week of Kevin Spacey’s #MeToo-era trial begins Tuesday in New York — but no criminal charges are filed against him.
Stage and film actor Anthony Rapp sued Spacey, accusing him of sexual assault, assault and intentionally inflicting emotional stress when Rapp was 14. The trial began with jury selection Thursday in Manhattan.
Here are some details about Spacey, Rapp, the lawsuit, and the case so far.
Rapp said he attended a party at Spacey’s Manhattan apartment in 1986, when he was 14 and acting in the Broadway play “Precious Sons.”
At the end of the night, Spacey was drunk and allegedly carried Rapp, placed him on his bed, and lay on it. Rapp said Spacey, then 26, held him tightly, but was able to escape and leave the apartment.
“He was pinned under him. I didn’t know what to do,” he testified last week.
Rapp filed his lawsuit in 2020 and has sought compensation of up to $40 million. He will continue to present his testimony on Tuesday.
WHO IS ANTHONY RAPP?
Rapp is an actor who made his Broadway debut at age 10. He has performed in the plays “Six Degrees of Separation,” “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” and became famous playing Mark Cohen with the original cast of the Tony and Pulitzer Award-winning play “Rent.” His on-screen credits include “Adventures in Babysitting,” “Dazed and Confused” and currently the Paramount+ series “Star Trek: Discovery.”
He was the first man to publicly accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct in 2017.
WHAT DOES SPACEY SAY ABOUT RAPP’S ALLEGATIONS?
After Rapp made his accusations in 2017, Spacey posted on Twitter that he did not remember the encounter.
“But if I behaved as he says, I owe him the sincerest apology for what may have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior,” she wrote.
Spacey hadn’t revealed his sexuality before, but said Rapp’s story encouraged him to assert himself as a gay man. Many observers considered it a rare time for Spacey to talk about his sexuality, some even considered it an attempt to divert attention from his likely guilt.
Spacey’s lawyers said in a court document that Rapp’s allegations are simply false and never occurred.”
On Thursday, an attorney for Spacey implied that Rapp filed the lawsuit because he is upset that his career has stalled.
“He became bitter about not having roles as an openly gay man,” Jennifer L. Keller said. Spacey’s team also suggested that the lawsuit is due to a young actor’s inability to differentiate between real life and a scene he played on Broadway eight times a week.
WHAT OTHER LEGAL BATTLES DOES SPACEY FACE?
In Britain, Spacey is accused of sexually assaulting three men, the oldest allegation dating back to an alleged incident more than a decade ago. Spacey pleaded not guilty in July during a hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court. The actor’s trial is expected to be next year.
In another standalone case, a Los Angeles judge ruled in August that Spacey and his production companies must pay the producers of the Netflix series “House of Cards” about $31 million in losses following the actor’s 2017 firing caused by what the streaming giant called sexual harassment of members of the production team.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SPACEY?
Several people charged Spacey, but the legal record is mixed. The late Scandinavian writer Ari Behn, who was once married to a member of the Norwegian royal family, accused Spacey of groping him at a Nobel Peace Prize concert, but apparently never made a formal complaint. Spacey did not comment on the allegations.
The only criminal case filed so far against Spacey ended when Massachusetts prosecutors dropped charges of indecent assault and battery after the accuser refused to testify about a lost cellphone that the defense said was key to the case. The accuser, who claimed Spacey had groped him in a Nantucket bar, also dropped the lawsuit.
A masseuse in Los Angeles had also sued Spacey accusing him of sexual assault, but the lawsuit was dropped after the masseuse passed away, The New York Times reported.
Rapp had originally filed the lawsuit along with an anonymous plaintiff known as C.D. who also accused Spacey of assaulting him when he was 14. C.D. was removed from the case after a judge ordered him to reveal his identity.
WHAT ARE SPACEY AND RAPP DOING NOW?
After the allegations surfaced, Spacey’s involvement was notoriously removed from the finished film “All the Money in the World” and replaced by Christopher Plummer as J. Paul Getty. Recently Spacey has resurfaced from exile in Hollywood participating in several films such as the thriller “Peter Five Eight”, the historical drama “1242 — Gateway To The West” and the Franco Nero drama “The Man Who Drew God”.
Rapp is filming the fifth season of “Star Trek: Discovery,” just released his film “Scrap” and is on tour with his solo show “Anthony Rapp: Without You,” about pain, hope and triumph. The actor has spoken on behalf of the victims as part of the #MeToo movement.