Actor Anthony Rapp alleges Kevin Spacey made a sexual advance toward him when he was 14
In an interview with BuzzFeed News, actor Anthony Rapp said that when he was 14 years old, Kevin Spacey, then 26, made a sexual advance toward him when they were alone in Spacey's home.
It was 1986, and both actors were starring in Broadway plays — Rapp in Precious Sons, Spacey in Long Day's Journey Into Night. Rapp said he was invited to a party at Spacey's home, but once he arrived, he was bored and went to watch TV in another room; he didn't realize everyone left, and Spacey, appearing to be drunk, entered the room, picked him up, put him on the bed, and climbed on top of him. Rapp told BuzzFeed News he squirmed away and left. Rapp said he never spoke to Spacey again, but over the years he told some friends and relatives about what happened, and he shared his story with The Advocate in 2001, although Spacey's name was not published.
Rapp is gay, and has been out publicly since 1992; Spacey's sexual orientation has been subject to speculation, but he says his personal life is private and won't comment on it. Rapp told BuzzFeed News he used to want to "scream to the rooftops, 'This guy is a fraud!'" He said he's talking about this now because of the new sex assault allegations against powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. "Part of what allowed the Harvey situation to occur was that there was this witting and unwitting conspiracy of silence," Rapp said. "The only way these things can continue is if there's no attention being paid to it, if it's getting forgotten." Spacey's representatives did not respond to BuzzFeed's requests for comment.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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