Kevin Spacey’s Lawyers Claim Anthony Rapp Manufactured Misconduct Claims: ‘He Grew Bitter About Not Getting Parts’
Kevin Spacey claim that Anthony Rapp manufactured sexual misconduct allegations against the Oscar-winning actor because he was jealous of his success and angry about his own stalled career. “He blames Mr. Spacey for everything that hasn’t gone well in his life,” Jennifer L. Keller, an attorney for Spacey said Thursday during opening arguments in the actor’s civil trial. Rapp, Keller added, “peaked around the year 2000 and he grew bitter about not getting parts as an openly gay man.” Spacey was on hand in Manhattan federal court as his lawyers attempted to fight back against Rapp’s $40 million civil lawsuit. Rapp is claiming that Spacey made unwanted sexual advances at him in 1986 when Spacey was 26 and Rapp was 14 years old. Rapp’s legal team made a point of reminding the jury that the actor was only a teenager at the time of the alleged assault, sharing a photograph of him in which he had a comb over haircut, wore glasses and appeared very boyish. They reminded the jurors not to think of Rapp as the 50-year-old actor who was watching the proceedings, but as the boy he once was.