Anthony Rapp says Kevin Spacey made sexual advance toward him when he was 14
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Anthony Rapp, right, said in a report out Sunday that Kevin Spacey, then 26, made a sexual advance toward him when he was 14 years old. (AP/REUTERS, File)
Kevin Spacey apologized early Monday after “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Rent” actor Anthony Rapp said Sunday night Spacey made a sexual advance toward him when he was 14, the latest in a wave of sexual abuse accusations across Hollywood.
Rapp told Buzzfeed News that in 1986, Spacey, a fellow Broadway actor at the time, invited Rapp to his apartment for a party. Later in the evening, Spacey, then 26, allegedly “picked Rapp up, placed him on his bed, and climbed on top of him, making a sexual advance,” according to the report.
“He was trying to seduce me,” Rapp recalled. “I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NEW HARVEY WEINSTEIN SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS EMERGE
Rapp recalled he pushed Spacey off of him, went to a bathroom and closed the door, thinking: “What is happening?” He told Spacey he had to go home, to which he allegedly asked if he was “sure” he wanted to do that.
Spacey released a statement on his Twitter midnight Monday, saying he has "a lot of respect and admiration for Anthony Rapp as an actor" and said he doesn't remember the encounter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I'm beyond horrified to hear his story. I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years," the actor said in his statement.
Spacey addressed his relationships with "both men and women" in his life and revealed he chooses "now to live as a gay man."
"This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life. I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy," Spacey said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added, "As those closes to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior."
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“I still to this day can’t wrap my head around so many aspects of it,” Rapp told Buzzfeed. “It’s just deeply confusing to me.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rapp, who came forward less than a month after accusations against mega-producer Harvey Weinstein led to his Hollywood downfall, said he decided to speak out “not to simply air a grievance … but to try to shine another light on the decades of behavior that have been allowed to continue because many people, including myself, being silent.”
He added: “I'm feeling really awake to the moment that we're living in, and I'm hopeful that this can make a difference.”