Kevin Spacey’s lawyer told a jury Thursday that a sexual misconduct allegation that derailed his theatrical career was the product of a young actor’s inability to tell the difference between real life and a scene he played on Broadway eight times a week.
Jurors in a New York courtroom heard opening statements in what is expected to be a two-week trial in a lawsuit brought by Anthony Rapp, the actor who in 2017 became the first in a string of people to publicly accuse the “House of Cards” star of inappropriate touching or sexual advances. READ MORE: Kevin Spacey ‘Strenuously’ Denies Sex Charges, Granted Bail The lawsuit stems from an alleged encounter between the two men in 1986, when Rapp was a 14-year-old getting praise for a role in the play “Precious Sons” and Spacey, then 26, was having his own breakout moment on Broadway as the co-star of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” Rapp says the older actor invited him to a party at his Manhattan apartment, then tried to seduce him in a bedroom after the other guests had left.
In interviews and the lawsuit, he has said a drunk, swaying Spacey swept him up in his arms, like a groom carrying a bride, then laid him on a bed and climbed on top of him.
Rapp said he quickly wriggled away and left, then kept quiet about what happened for three decades as both actors saw their careers take off.
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