Kevin Spacey Bought Private Theater To Train 'Emerging Artists' After Ex-Student, 14, Accused Him Of Rape
Jan. 7 2021, Published 3:27 p.m. ET
Kevin Spacey details his desire to work with emerging actors and reveals he even bought a private theater with hopes of training them in new court documents. OK! has obtained that filing, which was submitted in response to a lawsuit filed against the Oscar winner by a former student who claims that Spacey raped him when he was 14 — after meeting in an acting class.
"He has worked to develop the arts and culture scene in Maryland, especially in his home city of Baltimore," writes Spacey's lawyer Chase Scolnick. "He has planted roots in Maryland that extend far beyond his recent work on the Netflix television show House of Cards. Maryland has been his home for many years and the place to which he always has intended to return when traveling elsewhere."
Scolnick also states that Spacey "has contacted Maryland businesses and universities about providing assistance to community development projects, especially in cultivating performing arts in Baltimore. For example, Mr. [Spacey] Fowler entered into a contract in 2017 to buy a historic building in Baltimore, intending to renovate it into a 300-seat theater and home for his charitable foundation."
The Kevin Spacey Foundation's mission statement reads: "We identify emerging artists who have a unique voice and artistic vision and give them the training and resources they need to fully express themselves."
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Spacey also chimes in with his own filing, in which he shares the unlikely companies he has tried to team up with to support his local initiatives. "I have put down many roots in the state due to my intention to live in Maryland indefinitely," writes Spacey. "For example, in early 2017, I contacted Kevin Plank, the CEO of Under Armour, which is based in Maryland near Baltimore."
Spacey continues: "By that time, I had begun discussions with various influential people around Baltimore for nearly a year about doing my part to help the city by investing in its arts, education, and culture. In particular, I had a strong desire to build up the acting and performance arts community in Baltimore. I knew Under Armour had made tremendous contributions to the city in that regard and wanted to see where I could work with Mr. Plank or Under Armour to achieve our common goals of helping Baltimore reach its potential."
One of the projects Spacey claims to have discussed at these meetings was was "the inclusion of a performing arts theater in the new campus headquarters Under Armour had planned." Under Armour has yet to respond to a request for comment.
Spacey also looked to partner with one of the city's most prestigious organizations. "In 2019, I also began discussions with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore about the potential for my charitable foundation to provide funds to help establish the Johns Hopkins Rehabilitation Program for Performing Artists as the premier leader in the evaluation and treatment of performance-related injuries and conditions. I also hope the program can care for the mental wellness of performance artists in addition to their physical rehabilitation."
Those talks were delayed by coronavirus, which Spacey also reveals is the reason he was in England for most of the year. "My return flight set for April 12th was cancelled, and various travel restrictions imposed by the United States and other countries made it difficult to reschedule. I also was advised not to travel unless absolutely necessary due to the health risks and uncertainties of COVID-19. Unable to return home, and with the pandemic worsening in the United States, I had little choice but to extend my visit to London."
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The lawsuit — which was initially filed in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan — alleges that Spacey sexually assaulted C.D. on multiple occasions after the two met in an acting class in Westchester County in the 1980s. According to the suit, Spacey invited his acting student to his apartment and “engaged in sexual acts” with him on different occasions. During their final time seeing each other, Spacey assaulted the student, even though he made it clear he didn’t want to be touched by Spacey.
“Prior to intentionally and voluntarily attempting to anally sodomize C.D., defendant, Kevin Spacey, through his words and acts, intentionally caused the plaintiff, C.D., to become apprehensive that a harmful and/or offensive bodily contact was about to occur," reads the complaint.
Rent actor Anthony Rapp's lawyer stated in the initial complaint that Spacey "intentionally and voluntarily and without plaintiff's consent engaged in an unwanted sexual advance with a 14 year old and grabbed then infant plaintiff, Anthony Rapp's, buttocks, lifted him onto a bed and laid on plaintiff's body."
He goes on to note that the event led to “sustained psychological injuries, including but not limited to, severe emotional distress, humiliation, fright, anger, depression and anxiety.”
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In his response to Rapp, Spacey's lawyer writes: "Defendant admits he was in the audience for a production of Precious Sons in approximately the late 1980s in which Plaintiff Rapp was a cast member. Defendant admits he briefly met Plaintiff Rapp on a few occasions at most, but Defendant’s interactions with him were peripheral and limited ... Defendant denies he invited Plaintiff Rapp to any party at his home ... Defendant denies Plaintiff Rapp attended any alleged party at Defendant’s home ... Defendant denies that the alleged incident or any other wrongdoing alleged by Plaintiff Rapp occurred."
The allegations made by the other plaintiff in the case are also denied by Spacey, who is asking the court to reveal the name of his alleged victim. C.D's request to proceed anonymously had just been approved in the prior court under New York's Child Victims Act. These responses are a bit of a surprise since Spacey initially responded to Rapp's claims by tweeting:
Spacey objects to Plaintiff C.D.’s use of a pseudonym and failure to disclose his identity, even to Spacey. Despite this improper withholding of his identity, and Spacey's resulting inability to fully investigate and address the allegations, Spacey nonetheless makes a good faith attempt to answer the allegations in the Complaint. By providing this Answer, Spacey in no way suggests he has not been, and does not continue to be, prejudiced by Plaintiff C.D.’s anonymity. Spacey reserves the right to amend this Answer as deemed necessary or appropriate, including once Plaintiff C.D.’s identity is disclosed.
Spacey has delayed the proceedings from the start. Initial attempts to serve him in Baltimore failed, at which time the prosecution learned he was in London. The four-month window required for service internationally pushed back the timeline, allowing Spacey and his team of lawyers to draft a motion demanding the trial be moved from New York Supreme Court in Manhattan to the federal court for the Southern District of New York. That motion succeeded based on the fact that Spacey is not a New York resident.
He is asking for a jury trial in the case, stating that the court should rule in his favor, deny the plaintiffs' request for any monetary damages, require his two accusers to cover his legal fees, and award him "such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper."
Spacey has watched his career crumble under these allegations. He did manage to avoid any prison time, however, when a criminal case against the actor fell apart last year after it was learned the plaintiff in the case had manipulated evidence. In that case, the actor was accused of groping an 18-year-old boy in a Nantucket bar, though he had presented himself to be over the age of 21 at the time.
"I don’t think it will come as a surprise for anyone to say that my world completely changed in the fall of 2017. My job, many of my relationships, my standing in my own industry were all gone in just a matter of hours," Spacey said of the allegations while appearing at a conference in Europe last year.
“And so while we may have found ourselves in similar situations albeit for very different reasons, I still feel that some of the emotional struggles are very much the same. And so I do have empathy for what it feels like to suddenly be told that you can’t go back to work, or that you might lose your job, and it’s a situation you have absolutely no control over.”
Spacey has not worked since, and director Ridley Scott went so far as to cut Spacey from his film All the Money in the World and reshoot with Christopher Plummer in the role just a few weeks before the movie was set to hit theaters. That decision was soon overshadowed, however, by the news that Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million dollars for that week of reshoots while his co-star Michelle Williams — a four-time Academy Award nominee — was given just $80 per day.