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

Topline

Kevin Spacey denied accusations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward actor Anthony Rapp when the latter was a teenager and said the reason he waited so long to come out as gay was because of his father’s neo-Nazi beliefs, in testimony from Spacey’s first day on the stand in Rapp’s $40 million sexual civil misconduct lawsuit.

Key Facts

When he took the stand, Spacey said Rapp’s allegations—that in 1986 when Spacey was 26 and Rapp was 14, Spacey climbed on top of Rapp when Rapp was attending a party at Spacey’s house—”are not true.”

In response to Rapp’s accusation that Spacey was a “fraud” for waiting to come out as gay until after Rapp first publicly accused him in 2017, Spacey said he “wasn’t living a lie. I was just reluctant to talk about my personal life,” he said, according to Reuters.

Spacey said he was so hesitant to reveal that part of his identify because growing up, his father “was a white supremacist and a neo-Nazi,” who “used to yell at” Spacey when he began being interested in theater “at the idea that I might be gay,” the Associated Press reported.

Earlier in court proceedings, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan tossed Rapp’s claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, on the grounds that portions of the claim were repetitive of his other claim that he was a victim of assault and battery.

Tangent

Spacey’s lawyers alleged Rapp believes his career suffered because he is openly gay, and was annoyed that Spacey did not suffer the same ramifications by hiding his sexuality, according to Vulture.

Key Background

Rapp sued Spacey in 2020 after New York passed the Child Victims Act. He contends that after meeting Spacey backstage at a Broadway play, Spacey later invited Rapp to a party at his apartment in Manhattan. While Rapp was watching TV in a bedroom, Spacey allegedly climbed on top of him and put Rapp on a bed, and then Rapp “wriggled out.” “I was frozen. I was pinned underneath him,” Rapp testified last week, saying he “didn’t want” Spacey to do that to him. Roughly 30 victims have made similar claims against Spacey since Rapp first came forward five years ago, some of which Spacey has denied or not responded to. He was charged in the U.K. this summer with four counts of sexual assault and one count of nonconsensual penetrative activity, which he pleaded not guilty to.

Further Reading

Kevin Spacey Just Claimed His Dad Was a Neo-Nazi (Vulture)

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