Kevin Spacey’s civil sexual abuse trial begins in New York court

Five years after he was accused of sexual abuse, Kevin Spacey has fronted a New York court for the first day of his civil trial.

Kevin Spacey arrived to court Thursday for his civil sexual assault trial, after Broadway star Anthony Rapp accused the beleaguered actor of trying to seduce him when he was a teen.

Rapp made the allegations in 2017 to BuzzFeed, marking the first in a string of sexual misconduct claims that left Spacey fighting for his career.

The House of Cards star, 63, arrived Thursday morning, local time, to Manhattan federal court for jury selection in the civil trial, which is expected to last two weeks and feature testimony from both men.

Actor Kevin Spacey is surrounded by members of the media as he leaves the US District Courthouse on October 06 in New York for day one of his sexual abuse trial. Picture: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images/AFP

Five years after sexual misconduct allegations ended his Hollywood career, Spacey appeared in a New York court to face a civil lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp, who accuses the disgraced Oscar winner of assaulting him as a teenager, in 1986. Picture: ANGELA WEISS / AFP

Rapp alleges that in 1986, when he was 14 and Spacey was 26, Spacey invited him to a party at his Manhattan apartment and propositioned him after the other guests departed.

Rapp, who was part of the original Broadway cast of Rent, says Spacey groped him and then climbed on top of him before he broke free.

Spacey responded to the BuzzFeed article in a tweet saying he didn’t recall the incident. “But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour,” he wrote.

Lawyers for Spacey have since called the accusations false and denied that Rapp even attended the New York City party.

Anthony Rapp pictured at court today. Picture: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Since Rapp‘s accusations, Spacey has been dogged by harassment and misconduct claims. Three months ago, he pleaded not guilty in London to charges that he sexually assaulted three men when he was the artistic director at the Old Vic theatre.

Over the summer, Spacey was ordered to pay the makers of the Netflix show House of Cards $US30.9 million for violating his contract by sexually harassing crew members.

The Academy-Award winner was also accused of indecent assault and battery for allegedly groping a man at a Nantucket bar – but Massachusetts prosecutors dismissed the case in 2019. His accuser also dropped a civil suit over the incident.

Rapp, a regular on Star Trek: Discovery, alleges that he has post-traumatic stress disorder from the encounter and is suing for mental and emotional suffering, medical expenses and loss of work.

This story originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Kevin Spacey’s civil sexual abuse trial begins in New York court