Kevin Spacey comes out amid claim of sexual advance on young actor
Kevin Spacey / Anthony Rapp
It has taken an accusation of inappropriate sexual behavior towards a 14-year-old for Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey to finally confirm that he is a gay man.
In a BuzzFeed article on Sunday, Star Trek Discovery star Anthony Rapp claimed that Spacey made sexual advances towards him 31 years ago.
According to Rapp, in 1986, Spacey invited him to his apartment for a party and at some point in the night put him on his bed and lay on top of him. At the time, Rapp was a 14-year-old child actor and Spacey was 26.
Rapp, now 46 and openly gay, said that when he sees Spacey, “My stomach churns. I still to this day can’t wrap my head around so many aspects of it. It’s just deeply confusing to me.”
Spacey, 58, responded to the allegation on Twitter, writing that he did not remember the incident although he was “horrified” by the claim.
“But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior,” said the star.
“This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life,” including, he explained, rumours about his sexuality. Spacey said he has had relationships with both men and women but “I now choose to live as a gay man.”
He continued: “I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behaviour.”
Some on social media slammed the actor’s response, accusing him of coming out as a means to deflect attention away from his behaviour.
The allegation follows the recent avalanche of revelations of shocking sexual abuse and rape by powerful men, most prominently producer Harvey Weinstein, in Hollywood.
Rapp also took to twitter to address the matter, writing: “I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out to shine a light and hopefully make a difference, as they have done for me.”
He added: “Everything I wanted to say about my experience is in that article, and I have no further comment about it at this time.”
Rapp is widely known as one of the original stars of the Broadway musical Rent, and most recently for his groundbreaking role as the gay Lt. Paul Stamets on Star Trek Discovery.
Spacey has won two Academy Awards; Best Supporting Actor for The Usual Suspects (1995) and Best Actor for American Beauty (1999). Over the years he has refused to discuss his sexuality and private life.
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017
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