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Kevin Spacey testified in Manhattan federal court Monday that he’s not “a fraud” for not coming out as gay earlier in life, saying he grew up in a “complicated family dynamic” — with a father who was a white supremacist and neo-Nazi.

“I have never talked about these things publicly,” the Oscar-winning actor said on the stand. “My father was a white supremacist and a neo-Nazi. My father used to yell at me about the idea I might be gay.

“He would scream at me: ‘Don’t be a,’ he would use an F-word that was very derogatory to the gay community. I won’t use it here in court.”

Spacey, 63, took the stand in the $40 million civil trial, where he faces sex abuse allegations from 50-year-old actor Anthony Rapp, who claims the older man tried to seduce him when he was just 14 years old.

“They are not true,” Spacey told the jury of Rapp’s allegations. 

The “American Beauty” star also denounced Rapp’s claims that he was “a fraud” for not coming out as gay sooner.

“To call someone a fraud is to guess, say they are living a lie,” Spacey said under questioning by his attorney, Chase Scolnick. “I wasn’t living a lie. I was just reluctant to talk about my personal life.


  Kevin Spacey breaks down as he testifies in his sex abuse trial on Monday. REUTERS Kevin Spacey breaks down as he testifies in his sex abuse trial on Monday. REUTERS

  “He would scream at me: ‘Don’t be a,’ he would use an F-word that was very derogatory to the gay community. I won’t use it here in court.” REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg “He would scream at me: ‘Don’t be a,’ he would use an F-word that was very derogatory to the gay community. I won’t use it here in court.” REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

  Rapp said he was so traumatized by the experience that he later found it difficult to watch some of Spacey’s saucier movie roles. Alec Tabak Rapp said he was so traumatized by the experience that he later found it difficult to watch some of Spacey’s saucier movie roles. Alec Tabak

“I don’t know on what basis he was saying I was a fraud,” he continued, referring to Rapp. “It’s clear he was angry I wasn’t out. We have to respect it’s a very difficult process.”

Rapp claims he was attending a party at Spacey’s Manhattan apartment in 1986 when Spacey, who was then 26 and acting on Broadway, made unwanted sexual advances toward him, touching his buttocks, lifting him onto a bed and laying on top of him.

In his testimony, Spacey denied ever being alone with Rapp, and said he had been “shocked” when the accusations were first made public in a 2017 BuzzFeed report.

Spacey got emotional, wiping away tears as he described dealing with the potential bombshell report, amid the fallout of the #MeToo movement in Hollywood.


  The “American Beauty” star also denounced Rapp’s claims that he was “a fraud” for not coming out as gay sooner. Alec Tabak The “American Beauty” star also denounced Rapp’s claims that he was “a fraud” for not coming out as gay sooner. Alec Tabak

Kevin Spacey testified that he’s not “a fraud” for not coming out as gay earlier in life, saying his father was a white supremacist and neo-Nazi.

The proposed article, which included Rapp’s allegations of sexual misconduct by Spacey, came soon after numerous women publicly accused disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault.

Spacey said he felt he got roped into the widespread outrage surrounding Jeffrey Epstein after people learned he had been on the pedophile financier’s plane, the “Lolita Express” for a charity trip to Africa with Bill Clinton.

“The industry was very nervous. There was a lot of fear in the air about who was going to be next,” he testified. “I also think it was an incredibly important seismic shift in our society.”

Spacey also broke down in tears as he recalled the backlash from the gay community about his coming out in the same statement where he had responded to Rapp’s sexual abuse allegations. 

“I understood it in retrospect,” he testified. “That’s mine. I have to own that. It was really wrong and really bad, and I’m deeply sorry.” 

Spacey is expected to be questioned by Rapp’s attorney Tuesday.

Rapp, in his testimony, detailed the alleged “frightening” encounter with Spacey, telling jurors how the embattled Hollywood star had “pinned” him to a bed in his Upper East Side apartment. He said he was so traumatized by the experience that he later found it difficult to watch some of Spacey’s saucier movie roles, including as a dissatisfied husband who seduces a teenage cheerleader in 1999’s “American Beauty.”

In addition to the civil suit, Spacey is facing criminal charges in London, where he is accused of abusing several men while working as an artistic director at a local theater between 2005 and 2013.

He pleaded not guilty to those charges in July and is scheduled for trial next year.

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