Highlights
- During Manhattan’s civil trial, the defence attorney, Jennifer Keller, questioned Rapp’s version of his initial encounter with Spacey in 1986.
- Kevin Spacey’s attorney persuades Anthony Rapp to acknowledge that he has not been truthful about the circumstances surrounding his reporting of sexual abuse.
- According to the defence, on the first day of the trial, Rapp “created a story” about Spacey “for sympathy, for attention, and to raise his profile.”
Defence lawyer, Jennifer Keller, questioned Rapp’s story of his first encounter with Spacey in 1986 during cross-examination at the civil trial in Manhattan because it was inconsistent with the deposition made by a friend who witnessed this incident.
Rapp said that when he was 14, Spacey persuaded him and his older friend to go to a nightclub with him after meeting backstage at Spacey’s Broadway production. He testified that they went home after leaving the nightclub without any problems.
According to the Outlet, Rapp admitted in court that he attended a party at Spacey’s house a few days after their initial meeting. When the two were alone, he claimed that Spacey “forced himself” on him by “pinning him down on a bed.” Spacey has, however, refuted all these allegations.
However, the unnamed friend, a teenager at the time, reportedly stated in a deposition that they visited Spacey’s house on their first meeting.
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Given the friend’s testimony, Keller questioned Rapp in court, “Considering the friend’s deposition, ‘You knew you had a problem with your story, correct?” Rapp responded on the witness stand, “I don’t dispute his story. I just don’t remember it.”
Rapp also stated during cross-examination that Spacey never tried to touch his genitalia, undress him, or make any sexual activity or comments. He also denied any form of fascination or crush on Spacey.
However, Rapp recalled feeling “stuck with a cattle prod” after seeing a Spacey film in high school, and he testified that he bumped into Spacey at the 1999 Tony Awards while using the restroom. “As I was washing my hands, Kevin Spacey walked through the door. I looked at him, and he looked at me. That was startling. … I wanted very much to get away,” explained Rapp, as per the Associated Press.
Following the Rapp allegations, Spacey has multiple further sexual misconduct lawsuits against him, including one from 2018 alleging the rape of a young man. He was also accused of attacking three men sexually in the UK in May. In July, he entered a not-guilty plea to the accusations.
Despite the accusations against him, L’uomo Che Disegnò Dio director Franco Nero told Variety that he had cast Spacey as a police officer. The actor was also scheduled to feature in Peter 5/8, but the movie’s producers decided to withdraw him after he was accused of four sexual assault charges.
According to the Outlet, Rapp is scheduled to continue testifying on Wednesday.
While Spacey is now in court in New York, his trial is scheduled to start in the UK sometime next year.
