Kevin Spacey testifies in sex abuse trial: 'Not true'

foxnews.com:

An emotional Kevin Spacey testified in a New York courtroom Monday that he never made a sexual pass at the actor Anthony Rapp, who has sued for millions of dollars in damages, claiming the Academy Award-winning actor tried to take him to bed when he was 14.

Repeatedly, Spacey denied Rapp's claims that a then-26-year-old Spacey picked him up like a groom does a bride after a 1986 party at his Manhattan apartment and put him on his bed before lying on top of him.

Rapp testified earlier in a civil trial in which he accuses Spacey of assault and battery that he squirmed out from underneath an inebriated Spacey in the fully clothed encounter before fleeing, only to have Spacey follow him to the door and ask if he was sure he wanted to leave. "They are not true," Spacey said of the allegations, first made in 2017 in an interview with Buzzfeed.The accusations, along with more made by others, brought to an end Spacey's popular role on the Netflix series "House of Cards" and abruptly derailed his career.

Kevin Spacey said Rapp's claims against him are not true. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images) Spacey, 63, dabbed tears from his eyes with a tissue and sniffled as he described immediate intense pressure from publicists and lawyers to respond with compassion and empathy and an apology to Rapp's claims. "They told me I couldn't push back on the story," Spacey recalled. "I knew I wouldn't have any sexual interest in Anthony Rapp or any child.That I knew." At the time, with the #MeToo movement gaining momentum, "The industry was very nervous.There was a lot of fear in the air about who was going to be next," he said.