In tears, Kevin Spacey denies sex abuse claim, says he regrets apology
- Actor Anthony Rapp has accused the Oscar winner of climbing on top of him at a party in 1986, when Rapp was 14
- When the accusation went public, Spacey came out as gay in a statement and apologised for his behaviour, which he says now says he shouldn’t have done
Kevin Spacey said in court on Monday that he regretted apologising to actor Anthony Rapp over claims that the Oscar winner made an unwanted sexual advance in 1986 when Rapp was 14.
Rapp, now 50, sued Spacey in 2020 for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and testified earlier this month that an intoxicated Spacey – then 26 and acting on Broadway – climbed on top of him at a party at his Manhattan apartment.
Rapp, at the start of his own Broadway career at the time, said he was able to “swerve my way out” but that the experience scarred him.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan earlier on Monday dismissed Rapp’s emotional distress claim, but allowed the battery claim to stand.
Spacey took the stand in his own defence in Manhattan federal court and said the allegation was “not true”, and that he had never been alone with Rapp. He testified that he was “shocked” when Rapp went public with his claim in a 2017 article in Buzzfeed.
Following the article, Spacey released a statement in which he came out as gay and apologised to Rapp for any inappropriate behaviour.
