In a statement refuting a claim of sexual assault against him, Kevin Spacey came out as homosexual. As he spoke about his regret for doing so on the witness stand on Monday, Spacey cried.
Actor Anthony Rapp, who played the lead role in “Rent,” has accused Spacey of assaulting him at a party in 1986. Spacey is now on trial in federal court in New York.
Rapp first relayed the tale to BuzzFeed News, which detailed Rapp’s allegations that Spacey dragged him onto a bed and jumped on top of him during a party at Spacey’s house when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26 in a story that was published in 2017.
After the report was published, Spacey released a statement in which he admitted to being homosexual but claimed not to recall the event.
At the time, he said, “I have loved and had romantic interactions with males throughout my life and chose now to live as a homosexual man.
Spacey never came out as homosexual in public until the BuzzFeed report.
He said that he had long been “pushed strongly” to come out by prominent homosexual figures and that he had had planned to do so before Rapp’s accusations were made in order to “put the matter of my sexuality behind me.”
He added, “I simply wanted to be Kevin Spacey, actor. I was no longer worried people would call me Kevin Spacey, homosexual actor.
However, Spacey said that coming out the way he did was a mistake in court on Monday.
He sobbed on the witness stand and said that he regretted the remark nearly right afterwards. He said that he began experiencing backlash within minutes, especially from LGBT pals.
He said that he was accused of shifting the topic, attempting to avoid the issue, or confusing the accusation with being homosexual, none of which were his intentions.
Spacey acknowledged that a PR staff helped him draft the statement, but he claimed ownership of the content.
He remarked, “I put it out there; it was my duty; it was absolutely wrong; it was really horrible; and I’m terribly sorry.”
On Tuesday, the trial is anticipated to continue with further testimony from Spacey, who will be subjected to cross-examining by Rapp’s counsel.