Disgraced Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey took the stand today in his sexual misconduct trial and strongly denied the allegations against him and broke down in tears when talking about his upbringing.
Spacey, appearing in New York federal court, said his father was a “white supremacist and neo-Nazi” and that he was forced to listen to his father lecture about hatred for “hours and hours,” according to NBC News.
“I have never talked about these things publicly,” Spacey said. “Ever.” Spacey is accused of sexual misconduct with the actor Anthony Rapp from an incident back in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was a 26-year-old actor.
Spacey’s lawyers said Rapp is lying and made up the alleged incident because he was jealous of Spacey’s success. Rapp said Spacey lifted him up like a bride and placed him on a bed and then got on top of him. He’s looking for $40 million in damages.
Spacey also said he regretted posting a statement on Twitter saying he didn’t remember the incident but if it happened he owed Rapp an apology.
“I’ve learned a lesson: Never apologize for something you didn’t do,” he said to the jury. “I regret my entire statement.” He said he took the accusations “seriously but not factually.” He cried again when explaining that he was accused of trying to take the heat off himself by coming out as gay.
“I was accused by the gay community of trying to change the subject” as well as “conflating the allegations with being gay, which was never my intention.” He explained that he was thinking about coming out anyway when the accusations surfaced.
On the stand, Spacey did impressions of actors he said influenced and helped him in his career, like Jack Lemmon and theater impresario Joseph Papp. When he did the Lemmon impression, two jurors laughed. Spacey went on to say he lived in a studio apartment in 1986 and it didn’t have a bedroom.
He said he remembered meeting Rapp at an event for Broadway actors, calling Rapp “a kid who was in a play” that didn’t make much of an impression on him. He said he saw Rapp again accompanied by an actor he was interested in named John Barrowman.
Spacey described being “captivated” by Barrowman, then 19, and inviting them both to dinner and then to a club. He wasn’t interested in Rapp, he testified.
“Anthony Rapp seemed like a kid,” Spacey said. “John Barrowman seemed like a man.” Spacey said the three went back to his apartment and he “made a … pass” at Barrowman, who testified in a deposition that Spacey’s account was factual and that he didn’t do anything with Spacey because Rapp was there.
Rapp claims the party where he was assaulted happened at a later date. Spacey denied this as well.
“I have no memory of ever seeing Anthony Rapp at a party, and I knew I had never been alone with him,” Spacey said.
Spacey’s lawyer asked him if he was “confident that what Mr. Rapp alleges has never occurred?” “I am 100 percent confident,” the actor said.