- Kevin Spacey is facing a $40 million sexual assault lawsuit filed by "Rent" actor Anthony Rapp.
- Spacey has denied allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances at a party in 1986 when Rapp was 14.
Kevin Spacey arrived at New York City federal court Thursday morning as a trial began over allegations he sexually assaulted fellow actor Anthony Rapp when the latter was 14 years old.
Rapp sued Spacey in 2020, claiming Spacey made unwanted sexual advances toward him at a party in 1986 at Spacey's Manhattan home. According to the lawsuit, Rapp accused Spacey of grabbing his buttocks, lifting him onto a bed, and then laying down on him, before Rapp ran to the bathroom "fearing for his safety."
Rapp said he left the bathroom a few minutes later and then left the apartment, despite Spacey's attempts to get him to stay. Spacey would have been 26 years old at the time.
Rapp is asking the jury to award him $40 million in damages.
Spacey has denied the allegations.
"We look forward to a trial by jury with actual evidence rather than trial by social media," his lawyer, Jennifer Keller, said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The trial began with jury selection Thursday morning, and Judge Lewis A. Kaplan is presiding.
Rapp — who had an originating role in the musical "Rent"— spoke up about Spacey at the beginning of the Me Too movement, detailing the alleged assault in an article for BuzzFeed News.
The revelation would lead to a windfall of other men coming forward with similar allegations against Spacey and quickly made the Academy Award-winning actor a pariah in the industry. He was fired from his starring role in the Netflix show "House of Cards" and was digitally edited out of his role as J. Paul Getty in the film "All the Money in the World."
Spacey is also facing criminal sexual assault charges in the UK in connection to alleged incidents between March 2005 and April 2013 involving three accusers. That trial is scheduled to start in June, and Spacey has pleaded not guilty to the charges.