Kevin Spacey demands 'absolutely false' sex abuse case is dropped

Kevin Spacey has said sexual abuse allegations made against him by Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp are “absolutely false”, as his lawyers asked a US judge to drop the case.

The former House Of Cards star has been in Hollywood exile since the claims were made in October 2017, when Rapp said he was a victim of an “unwanted sexual advance” at a party in 1986 when he was just 14.

Spacey, 61, “categorically denied” the now 50-year-old’s accusations and added that he “did not harbour any sexual interest or desire in Rapp at the time or since”.

The claims were the first of several made against Spacey at the height of the #MeToo movement, which sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry.

Rapp’s case against the Academy Award winner has been thrust back into the spotlight by the emergence of court documents filed in New York on Friday, which revealed a detailed account of the alleged 1986 encounter.

What do the documents say?

Spacey, who was 26 at the time of the party at his Manhattan home, is said to have surprised Rapp at the event by picking him up and putting him on a bed.

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The Usual Suspects and American Beauty actor then pushed his body weight against Rapp, before he “wriggled out” with no resistance during the brief encounter.

Spacey said none of his interactions with Rapp had been “for the purpose of degrading or abusing him”.

In the documents, seen by PA news agency, Spacey says: “I categorically deny plaintiff Anthony Rapp’s claim that I sexually assaulted him or otherwise made a ‘sexual advance’ on him.

“I met Mr Rapp several decades ago. I never had a sexual encounter with Mr Rapp. Nor did I harbour any sexual interest or desire in Mr Rapp at that time or any time.

“Nor did I have physical contact with Mr Rapp or any other interaction with him that was for the purpose of sexual gratification of either me or him.

“Nor did I have any physical contact with Mr Rapp or any other interaction with him that was for the purpose of degrading or abusing him.

“Any suggestion otherwise by Mr Rapp or anyone else is absolutely false.”

What have Spacey’s lawyers said?

Spacey’s lawyers deny that the entire incident ever took place, and in the documents they argue the alleged encounter did not qualify as sexual abuse.

They say the only accused contact with an “intimate” part of Rapp’s body was when Spacey’s hand was claimed to graze Rapp’s buttocks as the older actor picked him up.

Rapp’s deposition had confirmed there was no touching that would constitute criminal conduct, and there was no other evidence that the contact was for the purpose of sexual gratification or to degrade or abuse Rapp, they said.

When Rapp first spoke publicly of his claim in 2017, Spacey issued a statement saying he didn’t remember the encounter but apologised.

His career quickly unravelled in light of the allegations, most notably his firing from Netflix’s House Of Cards and erasure from Ridley Scott’s All The Money In The World before it was released.

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