NEW YORK – Kevin Spacey remained calm during cross-examination at a civil trial on Tuesday and repeatedly dismissed suggestions he was not telling the truth as he denied an actor’s claim that he sexually assaulted him when he was 14 in the 1980s.
His several hours of cross-examination by a lawyer for actor Anthony Rapp, 50, went so smoothly that Spacey’s lawyer asked no questions after the early-afternoon interrogation concluded. Rapp testified earlier in the trial, now in its third week. He is demanding $40 million in damages.
Addressing Rapp’s attorney “sir,” Spacey appeared to be “kind and cordial” in responding to Rapp’s claims in 2017, a day after emotionally testifying that he regretted taking the advice of his superiors that Spacey had picked him up and picked him up briefly, not upset, laid on a bed in his apartment in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and he was 26.
“In my heart, I didn’t believe that happened,” Spacey said of his reaction to the claims. He said he was “terrified” and went along with his carers’ suggestion that he make a public statement saying he doesn’t remember the encounter, but if it did happen, “I owe him my sincere apologies for what was deeply inappropriate.” would have been drunken behavior.”
“The whole thing was horrifying,” Spacey said.
Rapp’s claims and those of others abruptly cut short the high-flying career of the two-time Oscar winner, who lost his job on the Netflix series House of Cards and saw other opportunities dry up. Rapp is a regular on the TV series Star Trek: Discovery and was part of the original Broadway cast of Rent.
Spacey, 63, admitted to entertaining Rapp and Rapp’s friend John Barrowman one night in 1986 after they saw Spacey perform on Long Day’s Journey Into Night. But he said if he had a romantic interest, it was Barrowman, not Rapp, who was appearing in Broadway’s Precious Sons at the time.
Spacey recalled dancing with then-19-year-old Barrowman at Limelight Dance Club and said he invited Barrowman and Rapp to his apartment afterwards to see his dog.
Once there, Barrowman and Spacey “playfully had a moment together” on his bed during a visit to the home that lasted about half an hour, the actor said. Barrowman testified in testimony played in part in court Monday that Rapp was in the toilet when Barrowman and Spacey briefly flirted on the bed.
“It was a flirtatious and playful moment between two people who were attracted to each other,” Spacey said. “I was fascinated by John Barrowman.”
On Monday, Spacey testified that he was sure he would never be alone with Rapp and that Rapp’s claim that Spacey attacked him after a party at his apartment was untrue.
“I knew I would have no sexual interest in Anthony Rapp or any child. I knew that,” Spacey said.
