Actor Kevin Spacey has been found not liable in a civil trial that claimed he sexually abused a 14-year-old boy in the 1980s.
The Hollywood star had been sued in a civil case by stage and screen actor Anthony Rapp over an alleged incident in 1986 after a party in Spacey’s New York apartment.
Rapp, now 50, had been 14 at the time and Spacey was 26. Spacey had “categorically denied” the allegations.
Rapp’s lawyer, Richard Steigman, had urged jurors to make Spacey pay for trying to molest his client. He accused Spacey of lying on the witness stand.
But Jennifer Keller, a lawyer for Spacey, told jurors that Rapp made up the encounter and said they should reject Rapp’s claims.
Star Trek: Discovery star Rapp, 50, and Spacey, 63, each testified over several days at the three-week trial. The lawsuit sought $40m in damages.
The verdict in the Manhattan federal court civil trial brings to a conclusion a trial that was an outgrowth of the #MeToo movement.
