Yesterday (October 29), the RENT and Star Trek actor detailed an encounter that took place when he attended a theatre party at Spacey's house in 1986. He was 14 at the time; Spacey was 26.
As BuzzFeed reports, at the end of the night, Spacey came into his bedroom ("kind of swaying" as if drunk), where Rapp had been watching TV for most of the evening, and made a sexual advance.
"He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold," Rapp told BuzzFeed. "But I don't, like, squirm away initially, because I'm like, 'What's going on?' And then he lays down on top of me."
He continued, "He was trying to seduce me. I don't know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually."
He said that Spacey was "pressing into me" and "tightening his arms," but that he eventually wriggled free after a short time and went into the bathroom. Rapp eventually opened the door, announced that he was going home, and Spacey followed him to the front door of the apartment. He said Spacey asked, "Are you sure you wanna go?" to which Rapp responded "yes" and then left.
Rapp went on to detail a series of instances that have triggered memories of the traumatic incident over the years — from watching Spacey in films like Working Girl to running into him at industry events.
Back in 2001, Rapp spoke about the incident to The Advocate, but redacted Spacey's name. He said that he felt emboldened to come forward and share his story because of all of the actors who have spoken out in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations.
Since the allegations broke, Spacey has responded in a message posted to Twitter.
He claimed he is "beyond horrified" to hear the allegations and insisted that he "does not remember the encounter." He nevertheless said that he owes Rapp "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour" and is "sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years."
In the wake of the BuzzFeed exposé, Spacey has also addressed long-running rumours about his sexuality, admitting that he has had romantic relationships with both men and women, and that "I choose now to live as a gay man."
He closed by saying that he wants to deal with the situation "honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behaviour."
Read Spacey's full message below.
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017
Not everyone is taking the apology at face value, however. See some of the reaction to the allegations and Spacey's response below.
u don't remember the incident - 30 years ago? - fuck u kevin - like Harvey we all knew about u - I hope more men come forward @KevinSpacey
— ROSIE (@Rosie) October 30, 2017
— Zachary Quinto (@ZacharyQuinto) October 30, 2017
Kevin Spacey has just invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 30, 2017
So Kevin Spacey is gonna use a coming out narrative to deflect that this 'oopsie' moment happened with a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD. infuriating.
— LW (@lindseyweber) October 30, 2017
Nope to Kevin Spacey's statement. Nope. There's no amount of drunk or closeted that excuses or explains away assaulting a 14-year-old child.
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) October 30, 2017
As a black queer man who was sexually abused as a child by a man who *now* identifies as gay, this Kevin Spacey PR stunt infuriates me in indescribable ways. We're in an era where someone can fax an apology for fucking sexual assault.
— PrestonMitchum (@PrestonMitchum) October 30, 2017
This whole Kevin Spacey situation reminds me that queerness is still more shocking than sexual violence to far too many people.
— Raquel Willis 🕷 (@RaquelWillis_) October 30, 2017
