Kevin Spacey Apologizes to Anthony Rapp, Comes Out as Gay
Kevin Spacey offered a public apology to Anthony Rapp after the “Star Trek: Discovery” actor said Spacey made a sexual advance on him three decades ago when he was 14. Spacey also said the accusation had “encouraged me to address other things about my life,” and came out as gay.
In an interview with BuzzFeed published Sunday, Rapp said a then-26-year-old Spacey invited him to a party in 1986, placed him on his bed, climbed on top of him and made a sexual advance before the younger actor was able to “squirm” away.
“I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago,” Spacey said in a message posted on Twitter. “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,” Spacey said.
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He also said he was aware of “stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy.” He said he has had relationships with both men and woman and “I chose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.”
Spacey was quickly ripped on Twitter for connecting the apology with his being gay — many pointed out that one had nothing to do with the other.
Rapp said that he attended a party at Spacey’s apartment when both were appearing on Broadway, Rapp in a production of “Precious Sons” with Ed Harris and Spacey in “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night” with Jack Lemmon.
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At the end of the evening, Rapp said he found himself alone in Spacey’s bedroom. “He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold,” Rapp told BuzzFeed. “But I don’t, like, squirm away initially, because I’m like, ‘What’s going on?'”
“He was trying to seduce me,” Rapp said. “I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.”
Rapp said that Spacey set him on the bed, “was pressing into” him, then tightened his grip on Rapp before the younger actor was able to “squirm” away and eventually leave the apartment.
“The older I get, and the more I know, I feel very fortunate that something worse didn’t happen,” Rapp told BuzzFeed.
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After the sexual misconduct charges leveled at figures like Harvey Weinstein and James Toback, Rapp said he felt emboldened to share his own experience with Spacey, who became a two-time Oscar winner and now stars in the Netflix hit “House of Cards.”
“Part of what allowed the Harvey situation to occur was that there was this witting and unwitting conspiracy of silence,” said Rapp, who appeared in the 1987 movie “Adventures in Babysitting” and the original Broadway production of “Rent.” “The only way these things can continue is if there’s no attention being paid to it, if it’s getting forgotten.”
Here is Spacey’s full statement:
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