Sophia Michaels
Kevin Spacey received a partial dismissal of claims alleging he intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Anthony Rapp. Rapp appeared in a Manhattan courtroom as part of the civil trial in which Rapp alleges he sexually assaulted him in when they were 14 and 26 years old, respectively. While the trial will proceed with assault and battery claims, Spacey delivered a testimony in which he called his father a white supremacist and neo-Nazi.
“It meant that my siblings and I were forced to listen to hours and hours of my father lecturing us about his beliefs,” Spacey said according to Associated Press, hypothesizing that his father’s hatred stemmed from a bout of unemployment after a failed career as a creative writer. “Everything about what was happening in that house was something I had to keep to myself. We never, ever, talked about it. I have never talked about these things publicly ever.”
Spacey described his family dynamic as “complicated” when asked about the privacy of his personal life, adding that it was “humiliating and terrifying when friends came over to the house.” He went on to recall his father’s erratic behavior in response to the idea that he might be gay, which he says included extensive screaming and yelling. The 63-year-old actor credited the experience as the point where “my hatred of bigotry and intolerance began.”
Spacey continued to deny Rapp’s allegations during his testimony, saying: “They are not true.” He has previously said that he doesn’t recall the incident.
Rapp, who is also an actor, first alleged in 2017 that Spacey groped his buttocks and forced himself on him during a party at his apartment in 1986 after they met while both working on Broadway. “I knew something was wrong,” Rapp testified, explaining Spacey’s approach to him as the party thinned out. “I had this feeling I had to get out of there. What I was also feeling was frozen.”
Rapp testified that he was able to “wriggle out” from under Spacey and eventually leave the apartment after allegedly being pinned beneath him by his groin. The 50-year-old explained that because he had not yet come out as gay, he wasn’t able to speak to his family about the encounter and feared telling anyone about it at the risk of impacting his early professional career.
Outside of the civil suit, Spacey is set to face trial on five sexual assault charges in London in June 2023. He had been accused of assaulting three men between 2005 and 2013 and has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
