Kevin Spacey sparked a furious backlash on Monday after being accused, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, of making s*xual advances on a 14-year-old boy more than 30 years ago.
The 58yrs stage and cinema actor, double Oscar winner and most recently star of the US version of “House of Cards” has been widely considered one of the finest actors of his generation with a glittering stable of career credits.
But on Monday he came under a torrent of fire. How did it start?
Rapp, 46, told Buzzfeed that in 1986, while both he and Spacey, who would have been 26 at the time, were performing on Broadway, Spacey invited the then 14-year-old to a party at his New York home.
Rapp said he was in Spacey’s bedroom watching TV when Spacey, “kind of swaying” and apparently drunk, came in after other guests had left, picked him up, put him on the bed and lay on top of him.
“He was trying to seduce me,” Rapp told Buzzfeed. “I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me s*xually.”
Rapp said he squirmed free after a brief period of time and went into the bathroom. Shortly after, he left Spacey’s apartment and went home.
According to AFP, Spacey responded within hours, posting on his Twitter account at midnight East Coast time that he was “beyond horrified” by Rapp’s account.
‘Bye, bye’
He claimed he did not remember the encounter: “I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
He went on to say that Rapp’s accusation “encouraged me to address other things about my life,” and that “I know that there are stories out there about me.”
“I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.”
But the online backlash was swift from celebrities and some members of the LGBT community, as hints emerged that Spacey may yet face other accusers.
“Bye bye, Spacey goodbye, it’s your turn to cry, that’s why we’ve gotta say goodbye,” tweeted Rose McGowan, one of the first actresses to accuse disgraced Hollywood producer Weinstein of rape.
“No no no no no! You do not get to ‘choose’ to hide under the rainbow!” said comedian and actress Wanda Sykes, who came out as lesbian in 2008. “Kick rocks!”
“There’s no amount of drunk or closeted that excuses or explains away assaulting a 14-year-old child,” tweeted advice columnist and LGBT activist Dan Savage.
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