Kevin Spacey quizzed about American Beauty scene in court

A “smirking” Kevin Spacey has opened up about one of his most infamous characters during his sexual misconduct trial. Warning: Graphic

Kevin Spacey has scored a major victory in court on Wednesday after a judge ruled he could not be cross examined about allegations he showed gay porn to a teenager and made a pass at him.

Lawyers for Anthony Rapp, who has brought a US$40m sexual misconduct case against the star, wanted to ask the actor about claims made by Justin Dawes, the Daily Mail reports.

Rapp’s lawyer Richard Steigman, grilled Spacey, who smirked at points, about his drug use and memories of encountering Rapp in 1986, Variety reports.

Kevin Spacey is cross examined during Anthony Rapp’s civil sex abuse case. The star reportedly checked out the artist's sketch and nodded his approval. Picture: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

Actor Kevin Spacey leaves the US District Courthouse in New York City. Picture: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images.

Spacey continued to deny Rapp’s claims that he tried to seduce the then teenager and at one point touched upon a masturbation scene in American Beauty.

“It was a fantasy scene,” Spacey clarified, Variety reports.

According to the Daily Mail, Spacey at one point checked out his courtroom sketch and nodded at the artist in approval.

On Tuesday, Spacey took the stand in his own defence.

In a response to the first question from his lawyer, Jay Barron, Spacey said Rapp’s allegations were not true before revealing details about his childhood that he has “never talked about publicly”.

Anthony Rapp alleged that the experience was the most traumatic event in his life.

Rapp, best known for his role in “Star Trek: Discovery,” is suing Spacey for battery and seeking US$40m in damages.

He claims that in 1986, Spacey, then 26, invited Rapp, then 14, to his Manhattan home where he picked the teenager up, laid him down on his bed, grabbed his buttocks and pressed his groin into Rapp’s body without his consent. Rapp, at the start of his own Broadway career at the time, said he was able to “swerve my way out” but that the experience scarred him.

Kevin Spacey is accused of sexual misconduct by actor Anthony Rapp but denies any wrongdoing. Picture: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images.

The Oscar winner took the stand as the first witness in his own defence at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, on Monday.

Spacey spoke about his childhood and how he and his siblings were forced to listen to their father’s beliefs, which he said turned him into a private person from an early age.

“My father was a white supremacist and neo-Nazi,” Spacey, 63, told the court, detailing the “hours and hours” he and his sibling would be subjected to the racist, violent and right-wing beliefs of their parent.

“I have never talked about these things publicly. Ever.

“My father used to yell at me about the idea I might be gay.

“He would scream at me: ‘don’t be a’ … he would use an f word that was very derogatory to the gay community.”

Earlier in the day, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan threw out Rapp’s claim of emotional distress as the prosecution rested.

That would lower any damages that might be awarded in the civil case.

Rapp’s allegations were among several that made Spacey an early focus of the #MeToo movement in 2017.

The American Beauty and The Usual Suspects Oscar winner and multiple House of Cards Emmy nominee faces trial in the UK for alleged sexual assault, with that case set for June, and he is on the hook for $31m awarded to House of Cards producers Media Rights Capital because the claims hastened the end of the show and were deemed a breach of his acting and producing agreements. Spacey denies all allegations of any wrongdoing.