Former Broadway actor and current Star Trek: Discovery actor, Anthony Rapp, told Buzzfeed last night about the time a then 27-year-old Kevin Spacey molested him in his apartment in 1986. Settle in, folks.
“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.”
Ok, so here’s the thing. When you read a story about a closeted gay man being a sexual predator and molesting a 14-year-old, and your first instinct is to hop online and say, “don’t be homophobic!”, go fuck yourself. Anthony Rapp’s story has nothing to do with how you or your friends are perceived. Welcome to some good ol’ straight male privilege. If I had to get online and hear how all straight men should have their dicks cut off because of Harvey Weinstein, gay men are gonna have to suck it up and take this L. And you if read an article that frames this as “Kevin Spacey comes out as gay” (oh, and this one. And this one), you might want to stop reading them. And to be honest, it might not be the best time for Kevin Spacey’s “emotional” coming out when Mike Pence is about to be President.