Kevin Spacey’s lawyer claims the actor is a victim of the #MeToo movement
Kevin Spacey’s legal team has claimed that the actor fell victim to the #MeToo movement and was set up by an accuser jealous of the fame and fortune he went on to achieve at the opening of his civil sex abuse trial in New York.
The former House of Cards actor appeared in a Manhattan court on Thursday to face fellow actor Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of assaulting him at a party in 1986. Whether true or false, the allegations have effectively ended the Oscar-winning actor’s career.
“One of the cardinal rules of the so-called MeToo movement [is] that you have to believe the victim. You’ll see that Mr Spacey said, ‘this didn’t happen, I don’t remember it’,” said Jennifer Keller, Spacey’s lawyer, in opening arguments. “They told him to apologise. It was cleverly set up by Mr Rapp.”
Ms Keller alleged that Rapp made the accusations “for attention, for sympathy and to raise his own profile” as Spacey’s career made him a star of Hollywood while the accuser’s career never took off in the same trajectory.
“He’s been telling this story to raise his own profile,” Ms Keller said. “He never became the international star Kevin Spacey did. He has been simmering with resentment. It’s not easy to defend this after 30 years.”
As 63-year-old Spacey arrived at the courthouse on Thursday, he passed a gathering of loyal fans and sat for his hearing with a jury of six men and six women who had been selected earlier in the day. During the trial, Spacey faced Judge Lewis Kaplan, who heard the civil suit against Prince Andrew earlier in the year.
Rapp’s original suit, filed in September 2020, detailed Spacey’s sexual advances and subsequent assault at a Manhattan party in the 1980s, when he was just 14 and Spacey was in his late 20s. Rapp’s first accusations were expressed in a 2017 interview with BuzzFeed News.
Spacey, who rose to become a star since the 1980s appearing in movies such as The Usual Suspects and LA Confidential, offered his “sincerest apology” to Mr Rapp for any “deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour” while insisting he did not recall the incident.
“As Mr Spacey’s star rose, Mr Rapp grew resentful,” Keller told the jury. “Rent (the musical) was the apex of his career. He peaked in 2000 and grew bitter. So he became an out gay actor. I don’t know if he would have been a leading man anyway. [The allegations made in 2017] was right after the Harvey Weinstein allegations. All sorts of people are worried about being cancelled,” she added.
Following the dismissal of Rapp’s initial sexual assault charges in 2020, Rapp filed a civil suit. If Spacey is found guilty, he will face significant damages on top of his House of Cards bill.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.