Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit Against Kevin Spacey Dropped By New York Court

A New York City court dismissed the sexual misconduct lawsuit against Kevin Spacey on October 20. The jury found that the actor was not liable for the assault and battery of Anthony Rapp when the actor was 14.

Rapp civilly sued Spacey for allegedly making unwanted sexual advances towards him in the 1980s, when he was a minor. In 2020, Rapp sued Spacey for 40 million dollars for assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The latter was dropped by District Judge Lewis A Kaplan as it overlapped with Rapp’s other claims.

Lawsuit Against Kevin Spacey

Broadway actor Anthony Rapp was the first of roughly 30 accusers to come forward against Spacey in 2017. He alleged that during a party in 1986, when he was 14 years old, Spacey climbed on top of Rapp and put him on a bed. Rapp claimed that Spacey grabbed his buttocks before he freed himself.

Rapp said that Spacey, who was 26 years old at the time invited him to a party in his apartment and tried to seduce him an a bedroom.

Spacey testified that Rapp’s claims were “not true”.

Rapp first told his story to Buzzfeed in 2017 when the #MeToo movement kicked off in Hollywood. At the time, Spacey responded to the allegations and said he did not recollect the incident. He said, “But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour.”

The lawsuit against Kevin Spacey was dismissed as the jury found that Rapp failed to prove that Spacey had “touched a sexual or intimate body part”.

According to the US district court for the Southern District of New York, the jury deliberated for about an hour before finding the defendant (Spacey) not liable. Spacey’s lawyer said in a statement, “Mr. Spacey is grateful to live in a country where the citizens have a right to trial by impartial jurors who make their decision based on evidence and not rumour or social media”.

Spacey had separately pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting three men in Britain between 2005 and 2013.

Suggested Reading: Broadway Actor Anthony Rapp Sues Kevin Spacey; Accuses Him Of Sexual Assault