Kevin Spacey Found Not Liable In Sexual Assault Lawsuit From Accuser Anthony Rapp

Topline

A New York City jury found actor Kevin Spacey not liable for the assault and battery of Anthony Rapp on Thursday, after Rapp civilly sued the embattled actor for allegedly making unwanted sexual advances towards Rapp—who was a minor at the time—in the 1980s.

Key Facts

The jury deliberated for slightly over an hour before offering its verdict, and the trial lasted over a week.

Rapp sued Spacey in 2020 for $40 million for assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress—the latter of which was dropped by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan because it overlapped with Rapp’s other claims.

Rapp, who was the first of roughly 30 Spacey accusers to come forward in 2017, said Spacey climbed on top of him at a party in 1986 when Rapp was 14 years old, put Rapp on a bed and grabbed him buttocks before Rapp freed himself—claims Spacey testified were “not true.”

Spacey’s lawyers argued that Rapp created the story because he was jealous of Spacey’s success in the entertainment industry.

Key Background

Rapp first accused Spacey in a 2017 Buzzfeed News interview. During testimony, the Rent and Star Trek actor claimed he met Spacey, who was 26 at the time, backstage at a Broadway show. After spending the night out together with one of Rapp’s friends, Rapp said Spacey invited him to a party at Spacey’s apartment, and Rapp went into a different room to watch TV, where the alleged assault took place. “I was frozen. I was pinned underneath him,” Rapp testified, saying he came forward “because I knew I was not the only one who Kevin Spacey made inappropriate sexual advances to.” In his initial response to the 2017 allegations, Spacey came out as gay and apologized to Rapp, while claiming he didn’t remember the encounter—but at trial, Spacey said he regretted issuing that statement and only released it on the advice of his PR team. Spacey also said at trial he took so long to speak about his sexuality because his father “was a white supremacist and a neo-Nazi” who openly disliked the idea that Spacey could be gay. Spacey’s legal team pointed to alleged inconsistencies in Rapp’s claims, like him recalling the incorrect number of rooms in the apartment Spacey lived in at the time. “The star witness of our case was the floor plan,” lawyer Jennifer Keller said in her closing argument Thursday, according to Variety.

Tangent

Spacey was charged earlier this year in the U.K. with four counts of sexual assault and one count of nonconsensual penetrative activity, which he pleaded not guilty to. He was previously charged in Massachusetts for an alleged 2016 assault, but prosecutors dropped the case in 2019.

Further Reading

Kevin Spacey found not liable in sex abuse suit brought by Anthony Rapp (NBC News)

Kevin Spacey Trial: Here Are Key Moments From Anthony Rapp’s Testimony (Forbes)

Kevin Spacey Says He Waited Until 58 To Come Out As Gay Because His Dad ‘Was A Neo-Nazi’ (Forbes)