Jury acquits actor Kevin Spacey in harassment case
NYT: New York jury acquits actor Kevin Spacey in harassment case
Actor Kevin Spacey has been acquitted in a harassment case against his colleague Anthony Rapp. That was the decision made by a jury on Thursday, Oct. 20, the New York Times reports.
The jury ruled that Spacey’s actions in 1986 were not of a sexual nature against the 14-year-old Rapp. In that case, what happened did not fall under the child molestation statute.
Spacey’s attorney Jennifer Keller thanked the jury for their ability to “see the truth.”
As noted, the 11 jurors in Manhattan federal district court spent less than 90 minutes deliberating on the evidence against Spacey. After the verdict was announced, the actor stood up with tears in his eyes and then hugged his lawyers.
The scandal surrounding Kevin Spacey erupted after actor Anthony Rapp accused him in 2017 of molesting him during the filming of a movie that allegedly took place 30 years ago when Rapp was 14 years old. Spacey said he had no recollection of such an incident, but apologized and made a cameo appearance.
That same year, the actor was accused of sexual assault and harassment by a total of at least 15 people, including director Tony Montana, Mexican actor Roberto Cavazos and Harry Dreyfus, son of “Jaws” actor Richard Dreyfus.
Amid the scandal, Netflix announced that it had suspended filming of the sixth and final season of “House of Cards,” which starred the actor, and then the script was rewritten to accommodate the absence of its main character, Frank Underwood, played by Spacey.