Star Trek: DiscoveryactorAnthony Rapp, who previously accused Kevin Spacey of making sexual advances at him when he was teenager, is praising the women whose testimonies helped convict Harvey Weinstein on two counts of rape and sexual assault.
Shortly after Monday’s verdict was announced — in which Weinstein wasconvicted on two of five counts in a New York City court: criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree— Rapp tweeted out his support for the victims and thanked them for adding their voices to the #MeToo movement.
“I applaud the women who bravely stepped forward to help forever alter the conversation around what they — and all of us — have to put up with. Gratified to see some justice being served here,”Rapp tweeted.
In an October 2017Buzzfeedarticle, Rapp alleged that then-26-year-old Spacey invited him to his Manhattan apartment for a party in 1986. (They were both starring in hit Broadway plays at the time.) Rapp says he was the only teen at the party and spent most of the evening in a bedroom watching television when he realized everyone had left and he was alone with Spacey.
Steve Mack/WireImage
After Rapp’s account was published inBuzzfeed, Spacey issued a statement saying he doesn’t remember the alleged incident, apologizing for “for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior” and announcing, “I choose now to live as a gay man.”
“I could only tell my story, but I knew there were more stories,” Rapp, 48, said CBS’sThe Talk. “So I was just hopeful that coming forward, it would encourage other people to tell the truth.”
Slaven Vlasic/Getty; JNI/Star Max/GC Images
The backlash to Rapp’s accusation was swift:several more people accused Spaceyof sexual harassment or assault, and in November 2017, Spaceyentered a treatment facility. Spacey has not commented on any of the allegations since Rapp’s.
Spacey was also fired from the final season of his Emmy-winning Netflix drama,House of Cards.
Harvey Weinstein.Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
On Monday, a jury of seven men and five women found Weinstein guilty of criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree,The New York Timesreports. He was acquitted on three other charges.
source: people.com
