On Thursday, the attorneys for actors Kevin Spacey and Anthony Rapp began the legal processes surrounding a civil lawsuit Rapp filed accusing the former “House of Cards” star of sexual misconduct.
Rapp, who is most known for his part in “Star Trek: Discovery,” filed a lawsuit against Spacey in 2020 for violence, assault, and willfully causing emotional distress.
Rapp made his first public allegations about Spacey’s alleged sexual advances against him in 1986, when he was 14 and the two of them were appearing in Broadway productions, in 2017.
The lawsuit claims that Spacey touched Rapp’s buttocks and put his body partially on top of Rapp’s while the teen was lying on a bed.
During opening remarks, a lawyer representing Spacey addressed Rapp’s allegations of sexual assault, claiming that his case was an effort to “get attention, pity, and to increase his own fame.”
According to Jennifer Keller, a lawyer for Kevin Spacey, “He never became the global star that Kevin Spacey did.” He has been boiling with resentment for a very long time.
Rapp’s lawyer, Peter Saghir, gave the jury a picture of the actor from the summer of 1986 to demonstrate how young he was when Spacey invited the youngster to stay at his flat.
“What happened to Anthony was an incredibly unfortunate event. A 14-year-old boy and a 26-year-old guy were involved in this behaviour, Saghir claimed.
Rapp is anticipated to give testimony during the trial. Adam Vary, a reporter for BuzzFeed who first reported on Rapp’s charges in 2017, is also. Rapp and Vary discussed keeping some parts of the story unclear so that Spacey could not later “flatly refute” the story in a text message, which was displayed by Spacey’s legal team.
In this instance, Keller asserted, “actual facts contradict the story that Mr. Rapp portrays.”
Rapp claims that Spacey appeared in his apartment’s “doorway” while a party he organised was winding down, but Spacey’s legal team contradicts several other aspects of Rapp’s account. A floor plan of the apartment Spacey stayed in, which Keller displayed, revealed that it was an alcove studio with no walls close to the designated bedroom space.
Mr. Rapp’s entire narrative depends on the presence of a bedroom.
Keller claimed that Rapp’s accusations against Spacey “borrowed” specifics from the plot of the Broadway play “Precious Sons,” which he was performing in at the time the alleged incident occurred.
Shortly after Rapp’s admission in 2017, Spacey issued a formal apology via Twitter, saying he was “beyond horrified to hear his tale” and that he did not recall the event.
Spacey at the time stated in a tweet, “…If I did behave then as he describes, I offer him the sincerest apology for what would have been very inappropriate drunken behaviour, and I am sorry for the sentiments he recounts having carried with him all these years.”
Rapp filed the complaint decades after the alleged assault because, for years, he was unsure of his options, according to Saghir, who informed the jury that they will hear directly from Rapp about what transpired.
“Anthony wants you to admit that this was wrong and seeks justice. This should never have happened, according to Saghir.
Rapp allegedly did not disclose this alleged encounter to police, in his memoir, or to his 20-year-old therapist, according to Keller, who instructed the jury to concentrate on the evidence.
After hearing all viewpoints, Keller predicted that the audience would be persuaded that nothing had truly occurred.
The next court date is Friday morning.
