[Note: This article contains descriptions of sexual misconduct.]
Actor Anthony Rapp took the stand today during the New York-set trial for his sexual misconduct lawsuit against Kevin Spacey, describing an “alarming” encounter that the two allegedly had in 1986, when Spacey was 26, and Rapp was just 14. Star Trek Discovery star Rapp—whose allegations of sexually coercive behavior against Spacey sparked several other men to come forward in 2017 with similar stories—described for the court his time as a teenager in the New York theater scene that year, having scored his first major part in a Broadway show, Precious Sons.
In Rapp’s testimony, he described becoming acquainted with Spacey, who, he says, helped sneak him and another teenager into a nightclub one night. A few days later, Rapp says Spacey invited him to a party at his apartment; after the guests had left, Rapp and Spacey were left alone. Here’s Deadline’s description of what Rapp testified happened next:
After the other guests left, Rapp said, Spacey came into a part of the apartment with a bed, where Rapp had been watching TV alone. He scooped up Rapp – who estimated that he was about 5-foot-5 and 100 pounds – and cradled him “like a groom holds a bride over a threshold.” Spacey, who appeared unsteady and “glassy-eyed” to Rapp, then laid down on top of Rapp, trapping him and pressing his groin into the side of the 14-year-old’s hip.
“I knew something was wrong,” Rapp testified. “I had this feeling I had to get out of there. What I was also feeling was frozen.” Even after Rapp “managed to wriggle out from under him,” Rapp said, Spacey then blocked his exit at the doorway, pointedly asking, “Are you sure you want to leave?” After another long moment, the teen managed to get outside.
Rapp says he didn’t disclose the incident to anyone at the time, at least partially because he himself wasn’t out as gay—he cited a discomfort with talking about sex in any way with his mother, who he was living with—as well as out of a fear that it might harm future opportunities for the then-14-year-old actor.
Spacey is expected to testify in his own defense next week. The actor currently also faces criminal charges in the U.K. on four counts of sexual assault; he’s expected to stand trial in the country in 2023. In addition to these ongoing legal issues, Spacey was also recently ordered by an L.A. judge to pay $31 million to the producers of his former TV show House Of Cards, for costs involved in removing him from the series after the allegations against him became public.