- The actor Anthony Rapp accused the “House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey, 58, of making a sexual advance toward him when Rapp was 14 in 1986.
- Rapp told BuzzFeed News that Spacey had invited him to a party at his Manhattan apartment and later placed Rapp on a bed and laid on top of him.
- Spacey released a statement Sunday night, calling his alleged actions “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
- In the same statement, Spacey for the first time said he was gay.
The “House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey came out as gay late Sunday night after the actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him when Rapp was 14.
Spacey released a statement on Twitter following the accusation published by BuzzFeed News. Rapp told the publication that in 1986, when Rapp was 14, Spacey had invited him to a party at his Manhattan apartment. Rapp, who, like Spacey, was a cast member in a Broadway production at the time, attended the party, and he said that Spacey later found him watching TV in a bedroom. Rapp said Spacey placed him on the bed and lay on top of him. “I still to this day can’t wrap my head around so many aspects of it. It’s just deeply confusing to me,” Rapp told BuzzFeed News.
Rapp said he left Spacey’s apartment and had only one direct encounter with Spacey since. Neither Spacey nor his representatives responded to multiple requests for comment, BuzzFeed News’ Adam B. Vary wrote, but Spacey released a lengthy statement on Twitter on Sunday night, saying he had no memory of the encounter Rapp described and was “beyond horrified” to hear the accusations.
Spacey characterized the actions Rapp accused him of as “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” The actor went on to say that he had “loved and had romantic encounters with men” throughout his life and that “I choose now to live as a gay man.”
Read Spacey’s full statement below:
“I have a lot of respect and admiration for Anthony Rapp as an actor. I’m beyond horrified to hear his story. I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. 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.
“This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life. I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been protective of my privacy. As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life and I choose 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 criticized overnight for using his apology to Rapp to also come out as gay.
Rumors about Spacey’s sexuality have circulated for years. The actor seemed to address them publicly during the Tony Awards in June. While hosting this year’s show, Spacey participated in a bit during which he dressed as a woman and jokingly sang the words, “I’m coming out,” before stopping himself abruptly.
Rapp’s allegation against Spacey is the latest in a series of accusations of sexual harassment and assault that have shaken the entertainment industry. In The New York Times and The New Yorker, several women publicly accused the film producer Harvey Weinstein of varying degrees of misconduct, which ultimately caused Weinstein to be kicked out of the production company he cofounded.
Since then, new accusations have been directed at numerous high-profile people, including the author and journalist Mark Halperin, former President George H.W. Bush, and a handful of tech-industry executives. Previously revealed accusations against President Donald Trump and the fired Fox News host Bill O’Reilly have also resurfaced in the past few days.
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