Kevin Spacey denies sex assault charge in US court

Disgraced Hollywood star Kevin Spacey leaving a New York courtroom where he is facing charges of sexual misconduct, on October 6, 2022

Disgraced Hollywood star Kevin Spacey leaving a New York courtroom where he is facing charges of sexual misconduct, on October 6, 2022

Disgraced movie star Kevin Spacey takes the stand at his New York trial, rejecting as "not true" accusations he sexually assaulted fellow actor Anthony Rapp when he was a minor.

Rapp, who stars in the series "Star Trek: Discovery," is claiming damages of $40 million against the two-time Oscar-winner for "emotional anguish," for what allegedly happened in 1986, when he was 14 and Spacey was 26.

Before appearing in court Monday, Spacey, 63, won a small victory when the judge presiding over the case, Lewis Kaplan, dismissed Rapp's claim that Spacey had intentionally caused him emotional distress.

Addressing the court earlier this month, Rapp recounted that he "felt frozen" during the alleged incident -- until he managed to "wiggle his way" out.

During Monday's cross-examination, Spacey described his own troubled family, with a father he described as a "white supremacist" and a "neo-Nazi," something he had never said in public before, and who disliked gay people and did not appreciate his son's interest in the theater. 

On recommendation of his advisors, he issued a public apology which he said he now regrets.

At the time of the accusations, he came out publicly as gay for the first time, which he said led to accusations that he was "trying to change the subject, or trying to deflect."

The "Usual Suspects" star has also pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault of three men between March 2005 and April 2013 in Britain, and in 2019, charges against of indecent assault and sexual assault were dropped in Massachusetts.

...