Actor Anthony Rapp Says Kevin Spacey Made Sexual Advances Toward Him When Rapp Was a Teenager
“The older I get, and the more I know, I feel very fortunate that something worse didnu0026#39;t happen,” Rapp told BuzzFeed News on Sunday
On Sunday, actor Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct, claiming that Spacey made a sexual advance toward him when Rapp was 14 years old.
In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Rapp said he befriended Spacey in 1986 while both actors were performing on Broadway. According to Rapp, Spacey—then 26 years old—invited him to a party at his apartment, and at the end of the night, Spacey picked him up, placed him on his bed, and climbed on top of him. Rapp said he then pushed Spacey off of him and left the apartment.
“The older I get, and the more I know, I feel very fortunate that something worse didn't happen,” Rapp said. “And at the same time, the older I get, the more I can't believe it. I could never imagine [that] anyone else I know would do something like that to a 14-year-old boy.”
Rapp initially didn’t tell anyone about the incident, but after Spacey’s stardom rose in the 1990s with acclaimed roles in Six Degrees, The Usual Suspects, and American Beauty, he began confiding to close friends about what happened. Rapp also recounted the incident—while redacting Spacey’s name—in a 2001 interview with The Advocate.
On Sunday night, Spacey addressed the allegations in a statement posted on Twitter, saying that, while he does not remember the encounter, he apologizes for his “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
Rapp told BuzzFeed News that he was inspired to go public by the dozens of women who have spoken out against Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual harassment, assault, and rape by 60 women since early October. Rapp echoed those sentiments with a series of tweets Sunday night. “I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out, to shine a light and hopefully make a difference, as they have done for me,” he wrote.
