NOTE: This article contains graphic language that might disturb some readers. Please read at your own discretion.
Actor Kevin Spacey is once again facing allegations of sexual assault, this time in a new lawsuit filed by Star Trek: Discovery star Anthony Rapp and another unnamed man.
In the six-claim civil complaint filed in the Supreme Court for the State of New York, Rapp accuses Spacey of sexual assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The actor, now 48, claims the alleged abuse took place at a house party at Spacey’s home in 1986, when Rapp was just 14 years old.
Rapp says Spacey “engaged in an unwanted sexual advance with a 14-year-old and grabbed then infant plaintiff, Anthony Rapp’s, buttocks, lifted him onto a bed and laid on plaintiff’s body,” according to the lawsuit.
Rapp had previously spoken out about his alleged experience with Spacey in 2017 during the rising #MeToo movement; Spacey said he has no recollection of the party or the night in question. As of this writing, Spacey, 61, and his legal representatives have not responded to the new suit.
The complaint continues, saying that Rapp sustained “psychological injuries, including but not limited to, severe emotional distress, humiliation, fright, anger, depression and anxiety; a severe shock to his nervous system; and has been caused to suffer mental anguish, emotional and psychological damage as a result thereof.”
The actor also says in the lawsuit that the trauma from the alleged incident has hindered his ability to work.
The second man suing Spacey — only identified in the complaint by the initials C.D. — claims he was also 14 when he experienced sexual abuse by the actor.
“Prior to intentionally and voluntarily attempting to anally sodomize (C.D.), defendant, Kevin Spacey, through his words and acts, intentionally caused the plaintiff, C.D., to become apprehensive that a harmful and/or offensive bodily contact was about to occur,” reads the lawsuit.
Rapp and C.D., who do not know each other, are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for severe emotional distress they say they experienced during and after the alleged encounters.
In a interview with BuzzFeed in 2017, Rapp said Spacey befriended him while they both performed on Broadway shows.
In October 2017, two-time Oscar winner Spacey posted on Twitter that he doesn’t remember the encounter.
“But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years,” he said.
In a bizarre video posted in May of this year, Spacey compared his career’s downward spiral to coronavirus layoffs.
“I don’t often like to tell people that I can relate to their situation because I think it undermines the experience that they may be having, which is their own unique and very personal experience. But in this instance, I feel as though I can relate to what it feels like to have your world suddenly stop,” he said.
“My world completely changed in the fall of 2017,” he said. “My job, many of my relationships, my standing in my own industry were all gone in just a matter of hours.”
In the summer of 2019, prosecutors dropped an indecent assault and battery case against Spacey after the victim declined to take the stand.
This past December, another sexual battery case against the actor was dismissed after the accuser died of cancer.
Under the Child Victims Act, prosecutors could bring criminal charges until a victim turned 28. Both accusers in the new lawsuit are past that age.
Global News has reached out to Spacey’s representatives for comment.
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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
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