Anthony Rapp Takes Stand in Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit Against Kevin Spacey, Recounts ‘Incredibly Upsetting’ Encounter

Brent Lang and Antonio Ferme
·3 min read
431
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

“Rent” and “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp took the stand on Friday afternoon in his $40 million civil lawsuit against Kevin Spacey. Rapp alleges that Spacey made unwanted sexual advances against him when he was 14 and Spacey was 26.

“I was this 14-year-old child, and I had no desire to have any kind of experience like this in my life,” Rapp said.

More from Variety

Rapp claims that the incident took place after a party at Spacey’s New York City loft. He was in Spacey’s bedroom when he realized that all of the other guests had left. There, he alleges, Spacey blocked the door and then lifted him up like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold, before depositing him on the bed.

“It was very sudden,” Rapp said. “I was confused. He pulled his full weight onto my chest. My arms were pinned.”

He added: “I didn’t ask for him to do that. I felt like a deer in the headlights. I didn’t feel like I could do anything in that moment.”

Rapp said he eventually escaped to the bathroom where, “I tried to make sense of what happened” and to “gain back some level of control.” The experience, Rapp said, was “incredibly upsetting” and “frightening.”

Rapp was appearing on Broadway opposite Ed Harris in “Precious Sons,” while Spacey was starring opposite Jack Lemmon in a revival of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” The pair had become acquainted through theater circles, with Spacey taking Rapp and another friend to Limelight, a popular nightclub, days before inviting him to his apartment for the party.

Attorneys for Spacey have attempted to cast doubt on Rapp’s testimony by producing a floor plan that showed the studio apartment did not have a separate bedroom. A drawing that Rapp made of Spacey’s apartment during his deposition indicated that he believed the bedroom was separate.

Prior to Rapp’s testimony, Andrew Holtzman testified that he was groped by Spacey in 1981. At the time, Holtzman worked at the Public Theatre and Spacey was in actor in the non-profit organization’s Shakespeare Festival.

Holtzman alleged that he was working in his office when Spacey entered and attempted to force himself on the man. He said that he had recognized Spacey, then an obscure actor, from a photograph in the Playbill. When Spacey entered the room, he was “wearing tight blue jeans” and “had a very clear, large erection.” Holtzman grew alarmed after the actor approached him aggressively.

“He sort of lifted my up by my crotch and pushed me back on my desk,” Holtzman said. As Holtzman fell backwards, he said he “screamed things.” He added that Spacey said “absolutely nothing” during the alleged encounter. Spacey eventually stormed out of the office.

“I sat there completely in shock,” Holtzman said. “I started to blame myself.” He went on to add that he never told anyone at the Public Theatre about the misconduct, but said he had told friends over the ensuing decades before posting about it on Facebook in 2017.

“The experience is almost a blur,” Holtzman said. “Everything was in a slow motion. It’s a memory that I can’t forget.”

Attorneys for Spacey pressed Holtzman to acknowledge that he was 27 at the time of the alleged incident and Spacey was 20. They wanted to emphasize that the age gap was very different from the one between Spacey and Rapp, and that Holtzman was not a minor.

Spacey’s side also tried to cast doubt on Holtzman’s memory of the incident by sharing a Playbill from the production. They noted there were no photographs of Spacey to be found in the printed material.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.