(New York) A popular jury in a civil court in New York on Thursday dismissed actor Anthony Rapp, who accused fallen Hollywood star Kevin Spacey of sexually touching him at a party. in Manhattan 36 years ago.
Posted at 4:30 p.m.
Updated at 4:44 p.m.
The jury rendered its decision after a short deliberation, rejecting the demands of Anthony Rapp who claimed 40 million in damages.
This case, revealed at the end of October 2017, at the very beginning of the #metoo phenomenon of free speech on sexual violence, was followed by other accusations of sexual assault against Kevin Spacey, causing him to be sidelined in the entertainment world.
The star of Netflix’s hit political series, House of Cardsis still being prosecuted in London on other sexual assault charges.
The popular 12-person jury answered in the negative the question of whether Anthony Rapp, who had filed the complaint in 2020, had demonstrated that “Kevin Spacey had touched his private parts”, in May 1986, during a a party he was giving at his New York apartment.
Anthony Rapp, who stars in the series Star Trek: Discovery was then 14 years old, while Kevin Spacey was 26.
The two actors were present throughout the trial, since its beginning on October 6, and maintained their version of the facts dating from a time when one and the other played on the boards of Broadway, in two different shows.