A jury has concluded that Kevin Spacey did not molest actor Anthony Rapp when Mr Rapp was 14, while both were relatively unknown actors in Broadway plays in the 1980s. The verdict in federal court in Manhattan brings to a conclusion a civil trial that was an outgrowth of the #MeToo movement.
The lawsuit, based on 2017 claims by Mr Rapp, sought 40 million dollars (£35.6 million) in damages. Deliberations lasted just over an hour. When the verdict was read, Mr Spacey dropped his head. But he then hugged lawyers and others before leaving the courtroom.
Mr Spacey said he was “deeply grateful” after winning his US civil lawsuit against actor Anthony Rapp, who had accused him of an “unwanted sexual advance” at a party in 1986. Earlier on Thursday, a lawyer for Mr Rapp, Richard Steigman, urged jurors to make Mr Spacey pay for trying to make a sexual advance on Mr Rapp in Mr Spacey’s Manhattan apartment in 1986 after a party. He accused Mr Spacey of lying on the witness stand.
