Before I dig into the Kevin Spacey-Anthony Rapp trial update for day 6, I have to apologize. Life got in the way and I couldn’t get a blog up for the 5th day coverage. But—I didn’t leave you hanging. You can check out all the day 5 activities, here, in the Popping-Culture podcast.
Shortly after Anthony Rapp’s lawyers rested their case in the civil trial he brought against Kevin Spacey; the judge dismissed one of Anthony Rapp’s claims against the Oscar-winning actor.
Spacey defense lawyer Jay Barrow requested that both of Rapp’s claims—intentional infliction of emotional distress and battery—be thrown out.
Judge Lewis Kaplan partially agreed, dismissing Rapp’s “emotional distress” claim as it simply duplicated his battery claim.
Kaplan permitted the battery claim to remain.
This could be very problematic for the plaintiff. This will not only reduce any possible financial reward he could receive, but it also again calls into question the validity of his claims overall.
John Barrowman
Despite Jennifer Keller’s absence—she’s still recovering from COVID—the defense started their arguments.
Before Barrowman, a long-time friend of the plaintiff, took the stand via video, his sworn deposition from May 2021 was played. In it, he recalled the night he first met Kevin Spacey, with friend Rapp in tow. Speaking of the encounter in May of last year, Barrowman said, Mr. Spacey “playfully” pushed him onto his bed, where the two remained for a while talking, with Spacey’s arm draped over him. Rapp was still in the bathroom, and Barrowman noted it was “probably not the best [situation] to be in if Anthony came out.”
Barrowman noted he never found the episode “threatening,” adding, “I was a big boy. I was also, actually, to be honest, quite flattered that an older man was showing any interest in me.”
“I felt no threat whatsoever,” Barrowman said under oath.
Barrowman said it was years later (1996), in London, when he first heard of Rapp’s allegation of Spacey laying on top of him and Rapp wriggling away. Barrowman said Rapp spoke without “disdain” for the accused actor, “no anger” but that it “was [a] very, very matter-of-fact conversation about what happened.”
Kevin Spacey takes the stand.
Kevin Spacey took the stand following Barrowman’s testimony, detailing a trauma-filled childhood steeped in “hours and hours” of verbal assaults he and his siblings would endure from his father.
Mr. Spacey has never spoken publicly about his private life or childhood, preferring to keep his private life his. This trial, however, didn’t simply open the proverbial closet door; it ripped the damn thing right off the hinges.
Mr. Spacey’s accounts of his complicated childhood are available from countless mainstream media sources. If you want to gasp and gawk at them, you’ll have to go elsewhere; you won’t find the details here.
If Mr. Spacey decided to do a tell-all interview somewhere along the way, I’d gladly get into the nitty gritty. But when you forcibly out someone and legally compel them to divulge aspects of their life they’d prefer to keep for themselves—for monetary gain—I find it repugnant, and I’ll have no part of the intrusion.
Further into Mr. Spacey’s testimony, Mr. Scolnick, Spacey defense attorney, began to dismantle the plaintiff’s allegations.
Mr. Spacey detailed meeting Mr. Barrowman following a performance of Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
When I met them in Jack Lemmon’s dressing room, Anthony Rapp seemed like a boy, and John Barrowman appeared to be a man.
Kevin Spacey
Spacey describes a situation in which he was “focused” on Mr. Barrowman while Rapp tagged along. Later, back at Mr. Spacey’s Manhattan apartment, with Rapp was in the bathroom, he acknowledged that he and Barrowman were on the bed, adding that when Rapp came out, they all went downstairs. “I had to walk my dog.”
In testimony that followed, Mr. Scolnick asked Mr. Spacey about the #MeToo movement and whether he’d received an email from Adam Vary.
Yes, the “journalist.”
Mr. Spacey used air quotes on the stand when describing Mr. Vary—the viral listicle reporter with BuzzFeed, as a journalist. Honestly and professionally, I don’t disagree.
I do more fact-checking for this blog than, well, you get the idea.
And then they get to the tweet—that infamous clusterf*ck of a tweet.
Spacey described a conversation with publicists who told him he had to apologize but couldn’t push back because he’d be viewed as a “victim-blamer.”
Scolnick: Did your team tell you that you had to express respect for Mr. Rapp and regret?
Spacey: Yes. But I insisted that we use the word “if.” Take it seriously but not factually.
Spacey is still on the stand, and I’ll update this later.
KEVIN SPACEY-ANTHONY RAPP TRIAL UPDATE: DAY 6—the final score
Getting one of the charges dismissed, definitely puts today’s win in the defendant’s column
Oh my God! Kevin had to talk about his childhood abuse? I feel so bad for him! That has to be painful. But his lawyers are doing a great job. Getting rid of one of the charges is very important. Thank you for your daily posts!
I just wanted to say the way you described that Kevin had been publicly outed and forced to share what he had worked so hard for years to keep private was perfect and exactly what I’ve been trying to say the last few years . Also thank you for not perpetuating this by noting all the salacious details that are truly I feel nobody’s business .
I think if only people had read carefully the listicle written by the “journalist” now we would likely laughing at these two narcissistic compulsive liars and their pathetic attempt to kill the career of one of the most talented actors of our time. Thanks for your precious updates.