Kevin Spacey did not molest actor Anthony Rapp, jury finds

Spacey flatly denied the claims he molested a then 14-year-old Rapp at his Manhattan apartment in the 1980s

A jury in New York has found Kevin Spacey did not molest Anthony Rapp, who claimed the actor had tried to have sex with him when he was 14 years old.

Rapp, 50, had sought $40m in damages after alleging he had been preyed upon by 63-year-old Spacey during a party at his Manhattan apartment in 1986.

The allegations and other disclosures in 2017 about Spacey’s coercive behaviour abruptly derailed the two time Academy Award-winning actor’s starring role in House of Cards and saw him shunned by the industry.

After a three week trial, jurors deliberated for 90 minutes before deciding unanimously that Spacey was not liable for sexual battery.

Rapp appeared stoic as the verdict was read out, while Spacey hugged one of his lawyers, NBC News reported.

Both men testified for several days on the stand, with Rapp telling the court that Spacey was a fraud for not being openly gay.

Taking the stand in his defence, Spacey said he didn’t come out as gay until he was 58 years old because of his “humiliating and terrifying” upbringing.

Kevin Spacey has been found not liable for a sexual battery trial in New York (Associated Press)

Actor Anthony Rapp, right, and his partner Ken Ithiphol arrive at the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

He described his late father Thomas Fowler as a “white supremacist and a neo-Nazi”.

The alleged incident occurred when Spacey, then aged 26, and Rapp were relatively unknown actors on Broadway and was first made public in a Buzzfeed article in 2017.

In closing arguments, Rapp’s attorney Richard Steigman told the jury that Spacey had lied to them on the stand.

Spacey’s attorney Jennifer Keller suggested in closing arguments that Rapp may have invented the allegations based on his experience performing in the play Precious Sons, the Associated Press reported.

In the play, actor Ed Harris lays on top of Rapp’s character while mistaking him briefly for his wife before discovering it is his son.

Rapp went onto become a regular cast member on Star Trek: Discovery and was an original cast member of the Broadway production of Rent.

Spacey received a best supporting actor Academy Award for his role in 1995’s The Usual Suspects.

He went on to win a best acting Oscar for 1999’s American Beauty.