Actor Anthony Rapp sued Kevin Spacey for allegedly trying to seduce him when he was 14 in order to hold the Hollywood star “accountable” – and not because of a 30-year vendetta against the celebrity, his lawyer told jurors in closing arguments Thursday.
Rapp’s attorney maintained his client has been completely honest about the encounter between him and Spacey in 1986, as he urged jurors in Manhattan federal court not to let the Oscar winner “get away with it.”
“The simple truth here is: This happened, he shared it, and after all this time, he’s come here to share that truth with you,” attorney Richard Steigman said, referring to Rapp.
Rapp sued Spacey in 2020 for battery, claiming the actor, then 26, picked him up “like a groom would a bride,” then lay on top of him in his Manhattan apartment when he was 14.
“He’s done this to hold Kevin Spacey accountable,” Steigman said, adding that Spacey’s account of what happened is inconsistent and “not worthy of your belief.”
“I really hope you don’t let him get away with it this time,” Steigman added at the end of his rebuttal statement.
Anthony Rapp contends he has not had a vendetta against Kevin Spacey. Alec Tabak for NY Post
Kevin Spacey’s attorney argued the alleged 1986 encounter at the heart of the suit did not happen. Alec Tabak for NY PostRapp claims the encounter, which he says occurred at the end of a party at the apartment, was an attempt to seduce him and is seeking $40 million in damages.
Spacey’s attorney, Jennifer Keller, denied that the alleged event even happened, and told jurors that awarding Rapp any money would be a miscarriage of justice.
“There are no damages. This didn’t happen. It just didn’t happen,” Keller said.
“This is falsely alleged abuse that never occurred at a party that was never held in a room that did not exist,” she said.
Lawyer Jennifer Keller delivers closing arguments Rapp’s civil case against Spacey in this courtroom sketch in New York on Oct. 20, 2022. Jane Rosenberg/REUTERSKeller added: “One penny is too much for something that did not happen.”
The attorney pointed to things like inconsistencies about the layout of Spacey’s apartment at the time, which she asserted had no bedroom.
She also noted that Rapp could not identify any other people who were at the alleged “party,” telling jurors he essentially described them as “stick figures.”
“None of this makes any sense. But it makes sense if no one is ever going to ask you about the details,” she said.
The jury began deliberating Thursday afternoon.
