In recent years, more than a dozen men have said they have been sexually harassed by American actor Kevin Spacey. The first trial against the former Hollywood star has now begun in New York, and witnesses have been heard in a Manhattan court since the end of last week. A jury of 12 will eventually decide whether to believe actor Anthony Rapp, who says he was molested by Spacey in 1986.
It’s the first trial, but it’s not the first time Spacey has been on trial. In 2019 he had to appear before a judge in the US state of Massachusetts. An 18-year-old man said he was molested by Spacey at a bar on Nantucket Island. However, after the first hearing, the public prosecutor’s office requested that the case be dropped because the plaintiff did not want to pursue the case any further. He had been alerted that by deleting text messages on his phone he could have committed a criminal offense of destroying evidence. Spacey’s lawyers had argued the text messages could show there was no unwanted harassment.
In the case now pending in New York, Anthony Rapp told judge Lewis Kaplan and the jury that he was a 14-year-old at a party in 1986 in the Manhattan apartment of the then 26-year-old Spacey. He didn’t know any of the other guests, so he sat in the bedroom and watched TV. After a while, Spacey appeared in the room, apparently drunk. Spacey picked him up and laid him on the bed like a bridegroom carries a bride across the threshold of their new home. Spacey then lay down half next to and half on top of him and pressed the middle of his body against his hip.
Plaintiff Anthony Rapp in a court drawing during his testimony.
(PHOTO: JANE ROSENBERG/REUTERS)
Rapp states that he freed himself and then stayed in the bathroom for a while. Then he left. Spacey asked him if he was sure he wanted to go. These were the first words he addressed to him.
Spacey denies the allegations. After Rapp this for the first time in an interview with Buzzfeed News had raised, Spacey said he had no recollection of such an incident. But if anything like that actually happened, he owes Rapp a sincere apology for his drunken behavior.
In New York, Spacey’s attorney, Jennifer Keller, said the statement was made out of panic in those around him who were worried Spacey might be attacked on social media. Internally, he has always denied the allegations. The defense accuses Rapp of making up the story to make himself important. “It’s not a true story,” said attorney Keller, “but he tells it often.” She pointed out that the plaintiff himself confirmed that there was no groping, no kissing, no clothing was removed, no grasping under clothing, no sexualized language was used, and there were no sexualized references given.
Post-incident depression and anxiety disorders
Rapp is suing for “bodily harm and intentionally causing emotional pain.” Originally, he had also sued for aggravated assault, but the judge had rejected that. Rapp states he suffered from depression and anxiety disorders as a result of the incident. At the time, when he was 14, he didn’t think about going to the police. Years later, however, he told friends about the matter. Two of these friends have now testified in court in New York that Rapp told them the story in the 1990s.
Spacey’s defense stated that Rapp starred in a 1986 musical called Precious Sons. There is a scene in which a father comes home drunk and mistakes his son, played by Rapp, for his wife. The father took the son in his arms, put him on the bed and lay half next to and half on top of him. This scene inspired Rapp to create the Spacey episode. In addition, the defense presented a floor plan of Spacey’s apartment at the time, which, in their view, did not match Rapp’s description of the events.
It is unlikely that Spacey will be convicted in the New York trial. If he is acquitted, there will be no legally relevant allegations against him in the United States for the time being. In the coming year, however, he will have to answer for himself in Great Britain. There are four cases of sexual harassment and one of penetrative sex without consent. Spacey’s attorneys have also entered a not-guilty plea in these cases. The trials are scheduled to begin in London in the summer of 2023.