No evidence of sexual assault: Kevin Spacey acquitted At least 50 killed in protests against transitional government in Chad

He also became entangled in the Weinstein scandal: Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual harassment by fellow actor Anthony Rapp in October 2017. After that, reports of further allegations of numerous sexual assaults piled up. Hollywood star Kevin Spacey now has success in court: A jury unanimously acquitted the 63-year-old in New York on Thursday of the charge of assault with physical harm to actor Anthony Rapp, the court announced.

The jury, consisting of eleven members of the jury, had previously deliberated for more than an hour and a half after about two weeks of the trial. Rapp’s allegations, first made public in 2017 during the MeToo debate, had led to many other accusations and had turned Spacey’s then-successful career on its head.

The reactions

After the verdict, Anthony Rapp spoke out on Twitter. He thanked the jury for handling his case. “I promise I will continue to work to ensure that we can live and work in a world without any form of sexual violence,” the prosecutor said.

He hopes that victims of such violence will continue to have the courage to speak out and blame the perpetrators. Rapp got a lot of encouragement on Twitter:

It takes Hercules’ courage to speak of sexual abuse from his own childhood. “Every child abuse survivor gains more power when even one of us takes a public stance,” said fellow actor Alex Winter. But the acquitted Kevin Spacey also receives support:

It was about $40 million in damage

The incident to which the lawsuit relates is said to have taken place in 1986 at a party in New York, according to Rapp. The 50-year-old accused Spacey of abuse at the time. At the time, Rapp, who later became famous for the musical “Rent” and the TV series “Star Trek: Discovery”, was 14 years old. With his civil lawsuit against Spacey, he wanted to win about $ 40 million in damages.

Spacey had always denied the allegations, again in court. Rapp, on the other hand, testified at the trial that what Spacey did to him was the “most traumatic experience” of his life. However, during questioning by Spacey’s lawyers, Rapp had also become embroiled in numerous contradictions over the 1986 incident.

After the jury announced their decision, Spacey hugged his defense team. “We’re just thankful that the jury saw the truth,” attorney Jennifer Keller said. Rapp responded shortly afterwards via the short message service Twitter. He was “deeply grateful” to be allowed to bring the case to a jury and will continue to campaign against sexual assault of any kind.

Career not recovered

Rapp’s allegations were followed by numerous other allegations against two-time Oscar winner Spacey (“The Usual Suspects”, “American Beauty”), the Hollywood star’s career went downhill and has not yet been able to recover. Several victims went to court, but some lawsuits were dropped or dismissed because of the statute of limitations. Crew members of the Netflix series “House of Cards” also accused Spacey of sexual harassment. The streaming giant subsequently canceled its partnership with him.

In late May, Spacey was also reported in the UK for sexually abusing three men. The London public prosecutor’s office had announced that the cases were between 2005 and 2013.

The New York jury’s decision now offers a preview of how the charges against Spacey in general will continue, his attorney Keller said. “Next, Kevin Spacey will be found innocent of everything he has been charged with.” (leo/sda/dpa)