Kevin Spacey flirted with 19-year-old John Barrowman and “laid on a bed with him”, a court heard.
The former ‘House of Cards’ star is being sued by the ‘Torchwood’ actor’s former classmate Anthony Rapp, who has accused the disgraced actor of assaulting him at a party in 1986, when he was just 14 and Spacey was a decade older. As their legal battle continued in Manhattan on Tuesday (11.10.22), the judge learned that the trio met in the 1980s.
John, now 55, testified that he was staying with Anthony when they met Spacey backstage at a New York theatre, before going out to dinner and then to a club. The ‘American Beauty’ star’s attorney Jennifer Keller says the actor’s attention has been on the former ‘Dancing On Ice’ judge but ‘nothing inappropriate’ had happened.
She asked Anthony, who was on the witness stand, if he thought he was “seen as an attendant”, but he replied “no”.
The attorney then quoted from a previously unreleased portion of John’s deposition, in which he stated that they returned to Spacey’s apartment and lay down on the bed, but that they had not had any sexual activity due to the presence of his friend.
John then sent the ‘Usual Suspects’ star flowers and the pair stayed in touch, with the older actor often calling his new friend and his mother, which she “appreciated.”
This account differs from that of Anthony, who previously said they went home immediately after going to the nightclub.
Spacey’s attorney asked him, “It was right after Mr. Barrowman’s deposition that you realized you had a problem with your story.”
The ‘Rent’ actor replied, “I don’t dispute his story. I just don’t remember.”
Elsewhere during cross-examination, Ms Keller questioned a speech Anthony gave in 2018, in which he credited Lupita Nyong’o’s New York Times article about her experiences with Harvey Weinstein as the reason for which he showed up about Spacey.
She said, “It’s just not true that her article inspired you, is it?”
He replied, “I don’t see how that could not be true.”
The lawyer then pulled out a copy of the article, dated October 19, 2017, before showing screenshots of a conversation between the ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ star and his friend, BuzzFeed reporter Adam vary.
The first was dated October 11 and Anthony wrote: ‘I want to talk about another very powerful person in our industry.
His friend replied two days later, “I think everyone here wants to make sure your story has the biggest impact possible.”
Asked about those messages, Anthony said: “That’s how I remember how events unfolded when I think back to them.”
The lawyer replied contemptuously, “They weren’t 31, were they?”
She then argued that the anecdote about Lupita was seen as “useful for you to gain more sympathy”, but the witness insisted that was not the case as he “confused” the opinion piece with the broader allegations about Weinstein.
Despite the ordeal he would have endured, Anthony admitted to watching Spacey in many movies, on TV and in theater since then, saying it was his “duty” as an actor to watch the work of the star, but insisted he had “never wanted a career” like his.
Anthony filed a civil suit against Spacey after a judge dismissed a criminal charge of sexual assault in 2020. He is seeking compensation for mental and emotional pain, medical bills and loss of work.
Spacey previously pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting three men between March 2005 and April 2013 in the UK, while in 2019 charges of indecent assault and sexual assault were dropped in the Massachusetts.
