Kevin Spacey asks judge to dismiss sex abuse lawsuit
Kevin Spacey has moved to dismiss a sex abuse lawsuit filed by Anthony Rapp.
The Rent actor was the first to come forward with claims against Spacey during the rise of the MeToo movement in October 2017, accusing the two-time Oscar winner of making unwanted sexual advances toward him when he was just 14.
Rapp alleged Spacey, then 26, groped his butt, lifted him onto a bed, and laid on top of him - without consent - during a party at the actor's New York City home in 1986.
Spacey's lawyers filed paperwork in Manhattan federal court on Friday, stating that the actor "flatly denies" the incident, according to The Associated Press.
His legal team also argued that the encounter described in Rapp's lawsuit cannot qualify as sexual abuse because the only alleged contact with an "intimate" part of Rapp's body was his buttocks. They said Rapp "wriggled out" with no resistance in an incident lasting less than 30 seconds.
They insisted that there is no evidence this "intimate" contact was for the purpose of sexual gratification or to degrade or abuse Rapp, and so his claims for assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress must fail.
In recent filings, Rapp's lawyers have asked to move the case to state court, claiming Spacey, 62, cannot prove he has been living in Maryland. They argue he has mostly been living in London since 2003.
