Anthony Rapp, a fellow actor, has accused Kevin Spacey of sexually abusing him while he was a minor. Kevin Spacey appeared in a New York court on Thursday to face the charges.
The 63-year-old House of Cards star has consistently refuted the accusation.
Rapp demands $40 million (£36 million) in damages.
In court documents, Rapp asserts that Spacey hoisted him during the party 35 years ago and that his hand "grazed" his buttocks. When he was back on the bed, according to Spacey, "briefly placed his own clothed body half beside and partially across" his own.
He testified before the court that there had been "no kissing, no undressing, no reaching under garments, and no sexualized words or innuendo" during the brief alleged occurrence.
Rapp's attorney Peter Saghir stated during the case's opening statements before the jury of six men and six women, presided over by Judge Lewis Kaplan, that Spacey, who was then in his late 20s, committed "unacceptable" acts against his client, who was then a teenager, "intentionally to satisfy the drive of his sexual desires."
The alleged assault at Spacey's residence in New York "never should have happened," Mr. Saghir said. He was 14 years of age.
Since the allegation, which surfaced in the wake of the #MeToo movement and highlighted widespread abuse in the film industry, Spacey has maintained a relatively low profile. He later went on to star in movies like The Usual Suspects and American Beauty.
In an interview with BuzzFeed News last month, Rapp discussed his accusation.
In a statement posted online, Spacey apologized to Rapp for any "very inappropriate inebriated behavior" and insisted that he did not remember the alleged event.
Rapp launched a civil complaint after a judge dismissed a criminal sexual assault case against him in 2020.
Separate sex assault allegations that Mr. Spacey had molested an 18-year-old at a Nantucket, Massachusetts restaurant in 2016 fell apart in 2019 after the actor's attorneys claimed the complainant had tampered with text messages on his phone.
A judge ordered Spacey to pay $31 million to the House of Cards producers in August to cover their expenditures after they fired him from the program.
He pleaded not guilty in July in London to charges of sexually abusing three men over a decade earlier. The trial is scheduled to start in June 2023.
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