Kevin Spacey Comes Out As Gay, Says Sorry To ‘Star Trek’ Actor For ‘Inappropriate Drunken Behavior’

Just hours after a report in which Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp claimed that Kevin Spacey had sexually assaulted him when he was a teenager was published, the House of Cards actor and producer released a statement revealing that he identifies as a gay man. He also apologized to Rapp for “what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”

In the statement, which was published on the actor’s Twitter page, Spacey said that he doesn’t recall the incident Rapp described in his interview with BuzzFeed News. In the report, Rapp detailed how Spacey attempted to seduce him during a house party when he was 14-years-old. Kevin Spacey was 26 at the time.

“I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago.”

Nonetheless, the American Beauty star said that he respects and admires Anthony Rapp as an actor and that he is “beyond horrified” to hear the younger man’s story.

“But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.”

Spacey went on to confirm a rumor that has swirled around him for decades. According to the 58-year-old actor, Rapp’s revelation encouraged him to “address other things about [his] life.”

“I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man.”

Spacey acknowledged that there have been stories about him and that they have persisted because of the fact that he has been adamant about guarding his privacy. After avoiding the topic of his sexuality for many years, the actor told the Sunday Times in 1999 that he wasn’t gay and that he finally chose to answer because it had become difficult for the people he loves.

Kevin Spacey apologizes after accusation of sexual misconduct https://t.co/fjVORoZCH7

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) October 30, 2017

But, he wrote Sunday night, those closest to him have always known that he has had relationships with both women and men. Now, he wrote, he wants to “deal with this honestly and openly,” which begins with “examining [his] own behavior.”

In the BuzzFeed piece, Anthony Rapp, who is now 46, said that Kevin Spacey had invited him to a party at his Manhattan apartment sometime in 1986. Rapp said that he didn’t know anyone at the party, and growing bored, found himself wandering into a bedroom and watching TV until well past midnight. He said that as the night wound down, he realized that everyone had gone home and that he was alone with Spacey.

According to Rapp, Spacey walked into the bedroom drunk and “picked [him] up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold.”

“He was trying to seduce me.”

The Rent actor described how Spacey threw him onto the bed and then lay down on top of him. The older actor, he said, was “pressing into [him]” and “tightening his arms.” Rapp said that he was able to squirm away, step into the bathroom, and close the door.

Kevin Spacey has apologized for what may have been "drunken behavior" with "Star Trek" actor Anthony Rapphttps://t.co/Ew13AeDKxu pic.twitter.com/4Hs0O2E53b

— Variety (@Variety) October 30, 2017

The Star Trek: Discovery actor said that he and Kevin Spacey had never discussed the incident, but that he brought it up with a lawyer, who told him not to pursue a case. Rapp said that he was speaking up in light of the multiple accusations of rape and sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and director James Toback.

“Part of what allowed the Harvey situation to occur was that there was this witting and unwitting conspiracy of silence.”

“The only way these things can continue is if there’s no attention being paid to it, if it’s getting forgotten,” he added.

[Featured Image by Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images]