A federal judge has rejected Kevin Spacey's bid to dismiss a civil lawsuit in which fellow actor Anthony Rapp accuses him of making an unwanted sexual advance in 1986.
Mr Spacey has in court papers "categorically" denied Mr Rapp's accusations.Once among Hollywood's biggest stars, Mr Spacey fell from grace after Mr Rapp accused him of misconduct in October 2017 and more accusers came forward.Last month, British authorities authorised criminal charges against Mr Spacey for alleged sexual assaults against three men between 2005 and 2013.
In the alleged 1986 encounter, Mr Spacey grabbed Mr Rapp's buttocks, lifted him onto a bed and laid on him before Mr Rapp "wriggled out", court papers say. Mr Rapp has said under oath there was no kissing, undressing, reaching under clothes, sexualised statements or innuendo, and the encounter lasted no more than two minutes.
He sued Mr Spacey in September 2020 and invoked the child victims act, a New York law giving accusers a since-expired window to sue over abuses from decades earlier.