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Tag: Anthony Rapp

  • New York court dismisses Kevin Spacey sexual assault lawsuit

    Kevin Spacey (centre) took the stand in his own defence in the third week of his trial. Kevin Spacey (centre) took the stand in his own defence in the third week of his trial (Photo credit: Getty Images)

    A New York court has dismissed a sexual assault lawsuit against the actor Kevin Spacey.

    The case was brought by Anthony Rapp, who says the actor inappropriately touched him at a party in 1986 when he was aged 14.

    Mr Rapp, now 50 and also an actor, filed the legal action in September 2020 and had been seeking around $40m (£36m) in damages.

    Mr Spacey, an Oscar winner, has denied the accusations against him.

    He is separately facing five charges in the UK of sexual assault, to which he has pleaded not guilty. That trial is due to begin in June 2023.

    On Thursday, following a three-week civil trial in a Manhattan federal court, a jury found that Mr Rapp had not proved his claim that Mr Spacey had made an unwanted sexual advance.

    Deliberations lasted for more than an hour and, after the verdict was read out by the judge, Mr Spacey reportedly hugged his lawyers before leaving the courtroom.

    Mr Rapp says that Mr Spacey was around 26 or 27 years old when he met him at a party at his Manhattan apartment.

    In a Buzzfeed article from October 2017, Mr Rapp said that Mr Spacey had picked him up, placed him on a bed and lay down partially on top of him. “I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually,” he wrote.

    Taking the stand in his own defence in the third week of his trial, Mr Spacey said he was shocked when Mr Rapp went public with his allegations five years ago.

    “I didn’t know how this could possibly be true,” the 63-year-old said, adding he would not have been sexually interested in Mr Rapp as he was underage.

    Mr Rapp’s lawyer Richard Steigman argued there were gaps in Mr Spacey’s memory and changes in his recollection.

    Mr Spacey’s lawyer Jennifer Keller countered that Mr Rapp’s story was a fabrication, and she said he was “getting more attention in this trial than he has in his entire acting life”.

    Career derailed
    Multiple allegations of sexual misconduct derailed the Hollywood star’s stage career. Netflix dropped him from its political drama series House of Cards and Christopher Plummer replaced him in the role of J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World.

    In August, a judge ruled that Mr Spacey must pay $31m to the producers of House of Cards for the costs they incurred after firing him from the show.

    Mr Spacey won Oscars for his performances in American Beauty and The Usual Suspects.

    In July, he entered a not guilty plea in London to criminal charges of sexually assaulting three men over a decade ago.

    During the New York trial he was asked about a suggestion by Mr Rapp that he was a “fraud” for not coming out as gay sooner. Mr Spacey said he had always been private about his personal life, including his childhood, because his father had held racist and homophobic views.

    Source: The BBC

     

  • Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault complaint dismissed by a New York court

    A sexual assault complaint filed against actor Kevin Spacey has been dismissed by a New York judge.

    Anthony Rapp filed the lawsuit, alleging that the actor illegally assaulted him when he was 14 years old at a party in 1986.

    Mr Rapp, now 50 and also an actor, filed the lawsuit in September 2020, asking for approximately $40 million (£36 million) in damages.

    Mr Spacey, an Oscar winner, has denied the accusations against him.

    He is separately facing five charges in the UK of sexual assault, to which he has pleaded not guilty. That trial is due to begin in June 2023.

    On Thursday, following a three-week civil trial in a Manhattan federal court, a jury found that Mr Rapp had not proved his claim that Mr Spacey had made an unwanted sexual advance.

    Deliberations lasted for more than an hour and, after the verdict was read out by the judge, Mr Spacey reportedly hugged his lawyers before leaving the courtroom.

    Mr Rapp says that Mr Spacey was around 26 or 27 years old when he met him at a party at his Manhattan apartment.

    In a Buzzfeed article from October 2017, Mr Rapp said that Mr Spacey had picked him up, placed him on a bed, and lain down partially on top of him. “I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually,” he wrote.

    Taking the stand in his own defence in the third week of his trial, Mr Spacey said he had been shocked when Mr Rapp went public with his allegations five years ago.

    “I didn’t know how this could possibly be true,” the 63-year-old said, adding he would not have been sexually interested in Mr Rapp as he was underage.

    Court sketch, 20 Oct 22
    IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS Image caption, A sketch in court shows Mr Spacey (R) and Mr Rapp’s lawyer Richard Steigman (C)

    Mr Rapp’s lawyer Richard Steigman argued there were gaps in Mr Spacey’s memory and changes in his recollection.

    Mr Spacey’s lawyer Jennifer Keller countered that Mr Rapp’s story was a fabrication, and she said he was “getting more attention in this trial than he has in his entire acting life”.

    Career derailed

    Multiple allegations of sexual misconduct derailed the Hollywood star’s stage career. Netflix dropped him from its political drama series House of Cards and Christopher Plummer replaced him in the role of J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World.

    In August, a judge ruled that Mr Spacey must pay $31m to the producers of House of Cards for the costs they incurred after firing him from the show.

    Mr Spacey won Oscars for his performances in American Beauty and The Usual Suspects.

    In July, he entered a not-guilty plea in London to criminal charges of sexually assaulting three men over a decade ago.

    During the New York trial, he was asked about a suggestion by Mr Rapp that he was a “fraud” for not coming out as gay sooner. Mr Spacey said he had always been private about his personal life, including his childhood because his father had held racist and homophobic views.

  • Kevin Spacey: Actor facing trial on New York sex abuse claim

    In a civil case stemming from allegations that he sexually abused a boy 36 years ago, Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey is scheduled to go on trial on Thursday.

    Anthony Rapp, who is 14 years old, accuses Mr. Spacey of touching him indecently at a party in 1986. Anthony is suing Mr. Spacey in New York.

    Mr Spacey, 63, is separately facing five charges of sexual assault in the UK.

    The House of Cards actor has denied the allegations against him.

    Both Mr Rapp, now 51 and also an actor, and Mr Spacey are expected to be in the Manhattan federal courthouse when the trial opens with jury selection on Thursday.

    Mr Rapp says that Mr Spacey was around 26 or 27 years old when he met him at a party at his Manhattan apartment.

    In a Buzzfeed article from October 2017, Mr Rapp said that Mr Spacey had picked him up, placed him on a bed, and lay down partially on top of him.

    “I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually,” Mr Rapp said.

    His lawsuit says the alleged encounter lasted no more than two minutes and “there was no kissing, no undressing, no reaching under clothes, and no sexualized statements or innuendo”.

    The legal action was filed in September 2020 and accuses Mr Spacey – whose real name is Kevin Spacey Fowler – of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

    Mr Rapp is reportedly seeking $40m (£35m) in damages.

    Anthony Rapp
    IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Anthony Rapp currently stars in Star Trek: Discovery

    The judge assigned to the case, Lewis A Kaplan, previously dismissed a charge of sexual assault, ruling the statute of limitations had expired.

    One day after the Buzzfeed article was posted five years ago, Mr Spacey took to social media to say he had no memory of what Mr Rapp described.

    “If I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior,” he wrote.

    “And I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.”

    In a video deposition, he filmed with lawyers in January, Mr Spacey denied that the incident ever took place, according to the news website Law & Crime.

    Mr Rapp’s account “couldn’t have been true”, he said, because “I am not interested in boys and I do not touch people inappropriately”.

    Mr Rapp stars in Star Trek: Discovery on Paramount+ and was previously in the Broadway musical Rent.

    Separate sex assault charges – alleging that Mr Spacey groped an 18-year-old at a restaurant in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 2016 – collapsed in 2019 after the actor’s lawyers argued the accuser had manipulated text messages on his phone.

    In August, a judge ruled that Spacey must pay $31m to the producers of House of Cards for the costs they incurred after firing him from the show.

    In July, he entered a not guilty plea in London to criminal charges of sexually assaulting three men over a decade ago. That trial is due to begin in June 2023.