We live in a very peculiar world when, after a trial, you need to sit down and write long explanations as to why it was the right verdict. You know, without a justice system what do we have? What are we?
We have social media and we have people with the metaphorical torches and pitchforks, ready to burn and maim, ready destroy, harm and crucify. How are we different than ancient times or medieval times? Mass hysteria with an added dose of snooping and gossipping and self righteously patting themselves on the shoulder for picking the side of the victim – survivor and making heroes out of unfounded accusations, that’s social media.
The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. The legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present compelling evidence to the trier of fact eg. judge or jury. If the prosecution does not prove the charges true, then the person is acquitted of the charges.
The opposite system is a presumption of guilt. Or social media.
Yesterday was the conclusion of the Rapp versus Spacey trial, with the case being dismissed by the Jury. Which means the plaintiff didn’t present compelling evidence to prove the accusation.
Earlier in the week, Judge Kaplan had dismissed the intentional infliction distress and kept the battery claim.
I won’t go into specifics as I did with the Nantucket case, because the problem is social media, it’s people with verified accounts, public figures if you prefer; journalists, artists, influencers etc
The Jury didn’t believe the accusation. Social media is enraged. We have reached an era where the only court verdicts we consider right are the ones we agree with, the rest are wrong. The thing though is, the Jurors work under a set of rules, Presumption of Innocence is the cornerstone. The plaintiff has to prove their case beyond doubt, more so in criminal cases than civil ones.
In social media, thousands of people decided the system is broken, that the Jurors were paid from the defendant, all kinds of dangerous words are shared so easily on twitter these days.
To start with the case, Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey that in 1986 he was at a party at Spacey’s home and he was bored so he went to Spacey’s bedroom to watch tv. There, after the guests left, Kevin Spacey picked him up like a bridegroom with a bride, laid him on a bed and moved his weight on top of him.
“I was frozen, pinned underneath him, like a deer in the headlights,” Rapp testified on the second day of a civil trial in which Spacey, 63, is accused of making a sexual advance on Rapp when Rapp was 14, in the mid-1980s.
After the alleged encounter, Rapp told the court, “I tried to calm myself and to make sense of what had happened”. Rapp said that, as a child, he had reasoned: “I guess he’s gay so that kind of explains why he’s climbing on top of me.
“I was thinking very much that I wanted to leave. I was thinking about how do I recover from this upsetting and frightening experience.”
Let’s go to Buzzfeed in October 30, 2017 and his interview to his friend (remember this, friend) Adam M. Vary.
«Rapp said he encountered Spacey again at one of those post-show functions, when a 17-year-old friend from Joliet was visiting him in New York. «And he was like, ‘Hey! Hi! Come join us!'» Rapp said. Spacey then invited both boys to join him at the popular nightclub Limelight, even though, as Rapp explained, “I looked younger than 14.”»
Buzzfeed
In retrospect, his 17 year-old friend from Joliet is 19 year old (at the time) John Barrowman who testified in the trial. In case I haven’t made it clear, Anthony Rapp lied about his friend’s age in his interview with Vary, making him 2 years younger in that age between minor and adult.
A few days later, according to Rapp, Spacey invited him to a party he hosted at his place.
«When he arrived at Spacey’s apartment, Rapp quickly realized that he was the only nonadult there — which, again, did not worry him, since he so often had found himself in similar situations as a child actor. The bigger issue: «I didn’t know anyone,» he said. «And I was quickly kind of bored.»
Rapp said he ended up wandering into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, and watching TV well past midnight.
At some point, Rapp said he turned to see Spacey standing at the bedroom door. And that’s when he first realized that everyone else had left the party. They were alone.
My memory was that I thought, Oh, everybody’s gone. Well, yeah, I should probably go home,” Rapp said. Spacey, he recalled, “sort of stood in the doorway, kind of swaying. My impression when he came in the room was that he was drunk.” Rapp doesn’t remember Spacey saying anything to him. Instead, Rapp said, “He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold. But I don’t, like, squirm away initially, because I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then he lays down on top of me.”
“He was trying to seduce me,” Rapp said. “I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.”
Rapp recalled this all happening — Spacey appearing at the door, coming into the room, picking him up, and putting him on the bed — in one clumsy action, with Spacey landing at a slight angle on top of him. He said Spacey “was, like, pressing into me,” and that he remembers Spacey “tightening his arms.” But while he can’t recall exactly how long Spacey remained on top of him, Rapp said he was able to “squirm” away after a short period.
After pushing Spacey off him, Rapp remembered he was able to step into the bathroom and close the door. «I was like, ‘What is happening?’” he said. “I saw on the counter next to the sink a picture of him having his arm around a man. So I think on some level I was like, Oh. He’s gay. I guess. Then I opened the door, and I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to go home now.’ He followed me to the front door of the apartment, and as I opened the door to leave, he was leaning on the front door[frame]. And he was like, ‘Are you sure you wanna go?’ I said, ‘Yes, good night,’ and then I did leave.»
As he walked home, “My head was spinning,” Rapp said. “I have a memory of turning around and [thinking], What was that? What am I supposed to do with it? What does it mean?”
buzzfeed
This is the accusation, this is the reason Anthony Rapp claimed he suffered PTSD and asked for 40 million dollars, for intentional infliction of emotional distress and battery. (Rapp’s sworn testimony at the end of this entry)
What did the Jury hear?
John Barrowman, Rapp’s 19 (and not 17) year old friend, said that while Rapp was in the bathroom he and Spacey were on the bed where Spacey had «playfully» pushed him on and they remained there, with Kevin’s arm draped over him and they talked. He said he never felt threatened and that he was quite «flattered» by an older man’s interest.
Reminder, this is 1986. Both Barrowman and Spacey are adults. Any age gap discussion you read in social media was not in discussion back then and an 19 year old man is an adult.
“I was a big boy. I was also, actually, to be honest, quite flattered that an older man was showing any interest in me.”
He also admitted it was “probably not the best [situation] to be in if Anthony came out.”
“I felt no threat whatsoever,” Barrowman said under oath.
Barrowman also said that it was a decade later in London when he first heard of Rapp’s allegation and he added that Rapp spoke without disdain nor anger over what had happened.
In the trial, the Jurors were shown a floor plan of the studio apartment Spacey lived at the time.
- At some point, Rapp said he turned to see Spacey standing at the bedroom door.
- Rapp recalled this all happening — Spacey appearing at the door, coming into the room.
Spacey’s apartment had no bedroom. It was a studio, with NO bedroom, no walls, no door.
Rapp said he ended up wandering into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, and watching TV well past midnight.
I repeat. No bedroom.
Rapp said he went to a party, he knew no one, got bored and went to the bedroom to watch TV.
75% of the above is a lie. He couldn’t leave the party and go to the bedroom to watch tv because there was no bedroom. This is not a detail he misremembers and the rest can be real. This is how he claims he spent the night. In a bedroom that didn’t exist.
Spacey also claimed he didn’t host any party and considering no guest came forward in the last five years to claim he was in that party, I’m inclined to believe Spacey.
At the time, Rapp was starring in a play «Precious Sons» in which there is a scene with Ed Harris’ character picking up Rapp’s character bridal style where takes place everything he described that happened between himself and Spacey (there is a photo in the buzzfeed article).
In Precious Sons, Harris’ character mistakes young Rapp for his wife, climbs on top of him and “attempts to get with him sexually,” Rapp said.
So, no bedroom, no party, no guests… just assault in the same way he performed every night, 8 times a week.
Is it so weird the Jury didn’t believe him?
In the trial, Rapp admitted he slapped his mother hard when he was a young teen. And here I will direct you to Ana Chevalier’s report about Rapp’s testimony. She has read and included parts of Rapp’s memoir «Without you» where Rapp admitted to have brutally beaten his partner. Seriously, go read it, she numbers more lies told by Rapp in his crusade against Spacey. I think in his memoir, it also becomes clear that at 14, Rapp wasn’t as innocent sexually as his narration of his allegation against Spacey suggests. No, it doen’s mean a sexual assault is justified, if a sexual assault is proven the culprit should be found guilty. However, it wasn’t proven…
…and here come the social media experts, who know none of the facts, or don’t care about them as long as they applaud their «hero».
- One argument against the verdict is that he’s been saying his story for 30 years. It doesn’t actually prove it’s not a lie though…
To answer that, for one, how did he use to tell his story?
Barrowman gives a reply, «with no disdain and no anger».
The Advocate interview that is often invoked in 2002.
In 2001 the Advocate and Anthony Rapp considered Spacey’s right to his sexual identity was more important than Rapp’s experience.
«In keeping with The Advocate’s ‘no outing’ policy, when Rapp related the entire incident to writer Dennis Hensley in 2001, we removed Spacey’s name and identifying details. Rapp understood the decision, and he didn’t share the story again via the news media until now.”
Up until 2017, Rapp’s telling of the story was a manifestation of his distaste of Spacey being in the closet. It was his way to prove how he knew Spacey was gay. Of course, it was not the only way he could have known that, was it? Clearly, among his own people, his colleagues, Spacey wasn’t hiding. But the story gave Rapp the added bonus of being the interest of the ‘getting there’ actor who was in the closet.
Rapp, in 2017 in his buzzfeed interview calls that experience a «violation»,
and in 2018 he says:
«I knew that he was very popular, and certainly a respected actor, but at the same time, I knew I was trying to protect people. And I was incredibly gratified by the enormous wave of support.»
He had no interest of protecting people for 20 odd years though, did he? When there wasn’t MeToo that made heroes out of victims, when survivors weren’t worshipped and rewarded Rapp had no interest being one. Just when he had something to gain out of it.
And in 2020 he asks 40 million dollars for ntentional infliction of emotional distress and battery. Not a symbolic amount of money of 100 thousand for example, no. 40 million.
Does this mean he was telling the truth though? Or was it the jealousy and anger against a man who, while living his sexuality open, he hid it where in mattered (the media & public) and he had one of the most successful careers of the 1990s and 2000s?
- Spacey’s apology in twitter is another argument against the verdict.
Spacey described a conversation with publicists who told him he had to apologize and that he couldn’t push back because he’d be viewed as a “victim-blamer.”
Question: Did your team tell you that you had to express respect for Mr. Rapp and regret?
Spacey: Yes. But I insisted that we use the word “if.” Take it seriously but not factually.
It didn’t save him, did it? The mob was out for blood. Victimhood was more important than outing a guy with force. Times had changed.
- People also bring up the number of the accusers, but not the type of the accusations.
Many of them are anonymous, others consider sexual assault a hand on their thigh (that may or may not happened), a crude joke, a hand on the shoulder. He’s been accused of flashing a waiter his penis and more.
Question is: how serious are the accusations and how many of them are actually true?
Because in the Nantucket case, the accuser pleaded the fifth and withdrew the accusation after losing his mobile phone.
Because Rapp couldn’t prove his case because reality (lack of bedroom walls and party guests) contradicted his story.
And these people brought their stories to the court.
And lied. Why wouldn’t other people lie?
Right here, I’d like to add something that happened in the trial, regards one more accuser and it was proven he also lied:
A thing that hasn’t been talked much in the Kevin Spacey trial and it should is Andrew Holtzman’s testimony. He shared his own experience in late 2017/early 2018 in various magazines. He’s one of the 30 accusers:
We now learnt «he’s a friend of Rapp’s» & his explanation of how he knew Spacey was his attacker was a lie.
Andrew Holtzman, a friend of Rapp’s, testified that Spacey had made a similar move on him years earlier.
Holtzman, now 68, testified that he was working in his office at the New York Shakespeare Festival in summer 1981 when Spacey entered and sat at a spare desk used by actors and others who worked for the company of seven theaters.
Holtzman said Spacey said nothing when he entered the office in a windbreaker, “tight blue jeans” and carrying a leather shoulder bag, but he recalled knowing him because he had seen his picture in the program for a play, Henry IV, in which Spacey was performing at the time.
As he finished a telephone call, Holtzman stood up at his desk and a sexually aroused Spacey walked over to him, lifted him up by the crotch and put him on the desk, Holtzman recalled.
“What are you doing? Get off of me!” he said he told Spacey.
“I could feel his erection on [me],” Holtzman said.
Minutes later, Spacey got off him, grabbed his windbreaker and bag and stormed from the office, Holtzman said, adding: “He was angry.”
On cross-examination, a lawyer for Spacey showed Holtzman six pages of a program for Henry IV and Holtzman said he did not see Spacey’s photograph
guardian
Let’s repeat this, shall we?
but he recalled knowing him because he had seen his picture in the program for a play, Henry IV, in which Spacey was performing at the time
a lawyer for Spacey showed Holtzman six pages of a program for Henry IV and Holtzman said he did not see Spacey’s photograph
Holtzman’s involvement is, for me, the worst thing that came out of this trial. I find it disturbing and sinister.
In 11/11/2017, Holtzman giving an exclusive to cncbc had said:
«I don’t wish him ill, I want him to get well, he needs help. He’s a talented guy but I can’t see how people can go and watch him (on screen) without seeing Kevin Spacey ‘the sexual-abuse guy.’ I don’t know how anyone gets over that.«
And he wasn’t even certain if the man he accused was actually the one who assaulted him – if the incident happened. He might have just tried to support his friend, but he got room in magazines to tell his story (sorry, should I say his truth?), his story wasn’t questioned and he’s one of those accusers that came in numbers. A friend of Rapp’s. First thought to guilt-trip the audience.
So, three in three men/accusers who testified in court have been caught in lies.
And they are willing to lie in court. Why wouldn’t they be willing to lie to journalists and magazines? Why should the rest be believed?
Links:
In sworn testimony, Rapps describes the alleged event the jury didn’t believe in as follows.
[Kevin Spacey] “approached me, and he picked me up; he put his arm beneath me, because I was sitting on the edge of the bed. So he put his hand under my butt and down my legs to my knees, like scooped me like that and held me like a bride in that famous image…he laid me down on the bed on my back, and he laid on top of me…it felt like drunk and clumsy… his full weight was on my body…His hands were like behind my back clutching my shoulders…pressing his weight into me. I don’t recall him saying anything…was able to make the decision to squirm away…he wasn’t grinding into me, he wasn’t caressing me, it was just sort of dead weight and holding me.”
Anthony Rapp
Now that this is out of the picture, Spacey faces a court in the UK, a criminal court case with far more serious accusations. That is a different case the conclusion of which is left to be seen. It does not conflate this case.
The accusers are different, their evidence is different, the result will be awaited.
A.K., November 21, 2021
Random Τhoughts of a Romantic Mind 