Kevin Spacey Didn’t Sexually Abuse Anthony Rapp, New York Jury Finds | New York

A jury on Tuesday concluded that Kevin Spacey did not abuse actor Anthony Rapp when Rapp was 14, both of whom were relatively unknown actors in Broadway plays in the 1980s.

A Manhattan federal court ruling concluded a civil lawsuit that was an outgrowth of the #MeToo movement. The lawsuit, based on his 2017 allegations of Rapp, sought $40 million in damages.

The deliberations lasted just over an hour. As the verdict was read out, Spacey bowed and hugged the lawyers and others before leaving the courtroom.

Rapp’s attorney, Richard Steigman, urged jurors to force Spacey to pay for attempting to sexually advance Rapp at Spacey’s Manhattan apartment after a party in 1986. He accused Spacey of lying on the witness stand.

Spacey’s attorney, Jennifer Keller, told the jury that Rapp was a hoax and that Rapp’s claims should be dismissed.

Rupp, 50, and Spacey, 63, each testified over several days during the three-week trial. The lawsuit seeks $40 million in damages.

Rupp’s allegations, and those of others, abruptly brought the skyrocketing career of the two-time Academy Award-winning actor to a halt. Rupp lost his job on the Netflix series House of Cards and saw other opportunities dry up. Rapp was a regular on TV’s Star Trek: Discovery and was part of the original Broadway cast of Rent.

In his closing remarks, Steigman claimed that Rapp happened in a one-bedroom apartment and that Spacey lived in the studio, so jurors should conclude that Spacey lied to them.

“He has no credibility,” Steigman said. As for his client, his attorney said he filed a lawsuit “to hold Kevin Spacey accountable.”

“Sometimes the simple truth is best. The simple truth is this happened,” he said.

During her final argument, Keller tried to suggest why Rapp framed her encounter with Spacey. Rupp testified that he had run away from his apartment wriggling, and encountered an inebriated Spacey at the door, asking him if he really wanted to leave.

Spacey’s attorney said his experience playing in Precious Sons, a play in which actor Ed Harris picked up Rapp’s character and lay over him, slightly mistaking him for his wife before discovering he was his son. said that Rapp may have invented it, based on

She also suggested that Rupp later became jealous that Spacey had become a megastar while he had a “small role in a small show” after his breakthrough performance in Rent on Broadway. .

“That’s why we’re here today. Rapp has gotten more attention from this trial than from his entire acting life.