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Actor Kevin Spacey arrives at federal court for a civil trial in New York City on Thursday. |
NEW YORK — In one of the cases that ultimately ended Kevin Spacey's career, a jury on Thursday found that the actor did not sexually assault Anthony Rapp, who was 14 at the time, while they were both relatively unknown performers in Broadway shows in the 1980s.
The civil trial's judgment was rendered in an instant. After deliberating for a little over an hour, the jury in a federal court in New York concluded that Rapp had not established his claims.
After hearing the decision, Spacey bowed his head and hugged his attorneys. As he exited the courthouse, he avoided speaking to reporters.
Rapp said in court that Spacey invited him to a party at his residence and then approached him in a bedroom after the other visitors had departed. He said that the actor, who was 26 at the time, pulled him up and momentarily lay on top of him on a bed.
Rapp said that when drunk Spacey inquired about his intentions, he wriggled out of the way and ran.
Spacey assured the jurors throughout his sometimes-tearful evidence that it never happened and that he would never have been drawn to a 14-year-old.
Damages of $40 million were demanded in the complaint.
Richard Steigman, Rapp's attorney, charged Spacey with lying to the jury during his final arguments on Thursday.
He is not credible, according to Steigman. "Sometimes the best answer is the plain truth. The obvious fact is that this did really occur."
After the trial, Spacey's attorney, Jennifer Keller, stated that the defense was "very appreciative to the jury for seeing through these bogus charges."
She informed the jury that Rapp made up the incident and offered explanations for why she could have imagined or made it up.
She speculated that Rapp may have created it as a result of his performance in the play "Precious Sons," in which actor Ed Harris takes up Rapp's character and lies on top of him before realizing it is his son.
She also implied that following his breakout performance in Broadway's "Rent," Rapp grew resentful of Spacey's success and the fact that he had "minor roles in tiny productions."
So now, Keller added, "Mr. Rapp is receiving more publicity from this trial than he ever has in his acting career."
At the three-week trial, both Rapp, 50, and Spacey, 63, gave testimony over the course of many days.
The two-time Academy Award-winning actor's once-soaring career was abruptly cut short by Rapp's and other people's charges. He was fired from the Netflix series "House of Cards" and other possibilities dried up. Rapp is a regular on the television show "Star Trek: Discovery," and he was a member of the original "Rent" Broadway ensemble.
Spacey was accused of groping a guy in a club in Massachusetts; the charges against him were eventually withdrawn by the prosecution.
When accused of sexually assaulting three men between 2004 and 2015 while serving as creative director of the Old Vic theater in London, he entered a not-guilty plea three months ago.
This past summer, a judge in Los Angeles upheld an arbitrator's ruling that Spacey must pay $30.9 million to the creators of "House of Cards" for breaching his contract by harassing staff workers.
Unless someone comes forward publicly, as Rapp has done, The Associated Press normally does not name those who are accusing another person of sexual assault.
Because he was residing in a studio apartment rather than the one bedroom that Rapp claimed, and because he had never hosted an event other than a housewarming party, Spacey said during his testimony at the trial that he was certain the encounter with Rapp never took place.
"I was aware that I would not be attracted to Anthony Rapp or any youngster sexually. I am aware of, "He informed the jury.
Throughout the two days of testimony, Spacey also admitted that he was sorry for a statement he made when Rapp first came forward, in which he claimed he didn't remember the encounter but that, if it did, "I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior."
Spacey wiped his eyes with a tissue and said that attorneys and publicists had coerced him into making an understanding statement at a time when the #MeToo movement was unsettling everyone in the business.
He stated, "I've learned a lesson: never apologize for something you didn't do."
He also sobbed as he stated he regretted coming out as homosexual the same day as Rapp's charges since some saw it as an attempt to alter the issue or divert attention from Rapp's discoveries.
Spacey stated that he spoke about extremely intimate topics throughout the trial, including how his father was a white supremacist and neo-Nazi who chastised him for being gay because he enjoyed the theater.
Spacey even momentarily imitated his on-stage co-star from Broadway at the time, Jack Lemon, for the benefit of the courtroom's viewers. He had previously stated in court that his talent for impersonation helped him in his acting career.
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