- Kevin Spacey said he regrets coming out as gay in a statement denying a sexual assault allegation.
- The actor sobbed as he testified Monday in a civil lawsuit waged by Anthony Rapp.
Kevin Spacey sobbed on the stand Monday as he testified about his remorse for coming out as gay in a statement denying a sexual abuse allegation against him.
Spacey is currently facing trial in New York federal court over "Rent" actor Anthony Rapp's allegation that Spacey assaulted him at a party in 1986.
Rapp first told the story to BuzzFeed News, which published a story in 2017 detailing Rapp's allegation that Spacey lifted him onto a bed and got on top of him at a party at Spacey's home when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26.
In a statement after the article was published, Spacey said he did not remember the encounter but acknowledged that he was gay.
"I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life and choose now to live as a gay man," he wrote at the time.
Prior to the BuzzFeed article, Spacey had never publicly confirmed that he was gay.
He said he had been "pushed heavily" by leaders in the gay community to come out for years and had been planning to do so before Rapp's allegations were levied "to put the question of my sexuality behind me."
"I was no longer concerned people would label me Kevin Spacey, gay actor. I just wanted to be Kevin Spacey, actor," he said.
But in court Monday, Spacey said coming out the way he did was the wrong decision.
Breaking down in tears on the stand, he said he almost immediately regretted the statement. Within minutes, he said, he started getting blowback, including from friends who are gay.
"I was accused of changing the subject or trying to deflect or conflating the allegation with being gay, which never was my intention," he said.
While he worked on the statement with a PR team, Spacey said he takes responsibility for those words.
"It was my responsibility, I put it out there. It was really wrong, really bad, and I'm deeply sorry," he said.
The trial is expected to continue on Tuesday with more testimony from Spacey, this time under cross-examination from Rapp's attorneys.