Kevin Spacey finishes testimony at NY civil sex abuse trial

NEW YORK

Kevin Spacey remained composed on Oct. 18 during cross examination at a civil trial, repeatedly rejecting suggestions that he wasn’t telling the truth when he denied an actor’s claims that he made a sexual advance on him when he was 14 in the 1980s.

His testimony for several hours on cross examination by a lawyer for actor Anthony Rapp, 50, went smoothly enough that Spacey’s lawyer did not ask any questions after the examination was completed by early afternoon. Rapp testified earlier in the trial, now in its third week. He is seeking $40 million in damages.

“In my heart, I did not believe this had happened,” Spacey said of his reaction to the claims. He said he was “terrified” and went along with his handlers proposal of a public statement saying he didn’t recall the encounter but if it happened, “I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”

“The whole thing was horrifying,” Spacey said.

Spacey, 63, admitted entertaining Rapp and Rapp’s friend, John Barrowman, one evening in 1986 after they saw Spacey perform in “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” But he said if he had a romantic interest, it was Barrowman, not Rapp, who was performing at the time in “Precious Sons” on Broadway.

Spacey recalled dancing with the then-19-year-old Barrowman at the Limelight dance club and said he invited Barrowman and Rapp to his apartment afterward to see his dog.

Once there, Barrowman and Spacey “playfully had a moment together” on his bed in a visit to the apartment that lasted about a half hour, the actor said. Barrowman testified in a deposition partially played in court that Rapp was in the restroom when Barrowman and Spacey briefly flirted on the bed.

“It was a flirtatious and playful moment between two people who were attracted to each other,” Spacey said. “I was captivated by John Barrowman.”

On Oct. 17, Spacey testified that he was sure he was never alone with Rapp, and that Rapp’s claim that Spacey made a pass at him after a party at his apartment was not true.

“I knew I wouldn’t have any sexual interest in Anthony Rapp or any child. That I knew,” Spacey said.