Five years after Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of sexual assault, the disgraced House of Cards actor is facing the allegations in court.
Spacey appeared in federal court in New York on Thursday, where jury selection in his sexual assault trial will begin. This is a civil trial, which came after Rapp sued Spacey for alleged sexual assault.
The Rent and Star Trek: Discovery actor first came forward with his claims in October 2017, telling BuzzFeed News that Spacey climbed on top of him and made an unwanted sexual advance in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. "My stomach churns," Rapp told BuzzFeed. "I still to this day can't wrap my head around so many aspects of it. It's just deeply confusing to me."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a statement on Twitter at the time, Spacey said he didn't remember the encounter with Rapp but that "if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior." Rapp's allegation prompted a wave of other men to come forward with similar claims against the actor.
Rapp filed a lawsuit against Spacey in 2020, alleging he "sustained psychological injuries" including "severe emotional distress, humiliation, fright, anger, depression and anxiety." He's seeking damages. Spacey's team has denied Rapp's allegations, maintaining that the actor "never had a sexual encounter with Mr. Rapp," BuzzFeed News reports.
This trial comes after Spacey was charged in the U.K. in May with sexually assaulting three men. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges. According to The Associated Press, his New York trial is expected to last less than two weeks.
-
Mermaiding: the underwater subculture on the riseUnder the Radar Cosplay meets fitness in an escapist fin-omenon that's making waves around the world
-
Delhi's dogs earn Supreme Court reprieveIN THE SPOTLIGHT After an outcry from the public and animal rights activists, India's Supreme Court walks back a controversial plan to round the city's stray dog population into shelters
-
8 hotels with ace tennis courtsThe Week Recommends Bring your A game
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
