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A NEW YORK court dismissed a $40 million sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against Kevin Spacey by an actor who claimed the disgraced Hollywood star targeted him when he was 14.
A jury found that Anthony Rapp, who was seeking damages for “emotional anguish,” failed to prove that the two-time Oscar winner had “touched a sexual or intimate body part,” leading Judge Lewis Kaplan to dismiss the civil case today.
Rapp, who stars in the series “Star Trek: Discovery,” was 14 at the time of the alleged assault in Manhattan in 1986, while Spacey was 26.
In his lawsuit the actor, now 50, accused Spacey of coming into a bedroom where he was watching television during a party they both attended, of picking him up, lifting him onto a bed and briefly laying down next to him.
According to a court document, Rapp claimed Spacey’s hand “grazed” his buttocks while doing so.
In addressing the court this month, Rapp recounted however that he “felt frozen” during the alleged incident – until he managed to “wiggle his way” out.
Rapp agreed however there had been “no kissing, no undressing, no reaching under clothes, and no sexualized statements or innuendo,” during an incident that had lasted no more than two minutes.
The 63-year-old star of “American Beauty” and “House of Cards” was one of the first stars to be caught up in the global #MeToo reckoning over sexual abuse.
Since Rapp’s accusations first emerged in 2017, Spacey has disappeared from screens and theaters.
He took the stand repeatedly in New York to deny Rapp’s account, saying he had no recollection of attending the party in question with Rapp.
At the time of Rapp’s accusations, Spacey he came out publicly as gay for the first time, which he said led to accusations that he was “trying to change the subject, or trying to deflect.”
During cross-examination in New York, Spacey described a troubled family past, with a father he described as a “white supremacist” and a “neo-Nazi,” who disliked gay people and did not appreciate his son’s interest in the theater.
Spacey said Rapp’s accusations, made public in late 2017, made him feel “shocked, frightened and confused” and that urged by his advisors he issued a public apology which he said he now regrets.
The “Usual Suspects” star has separately pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault of three men between March 2005 and April 2013 in Britain, and in 2019, charges against of indecent assault and sexual assault were dropped in Massachusetts.
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Oh great.. Now let’s get a gas guzzling tow truck to come out and start up the compressor to reinflate the tyres..
@The Divils Avocado: why would you call a tow truck? Just use the compressor that’s supplied with the vehicle to re inflate the tyres?
@A Kelly:
Most cars don’t have these, besides if you did you’re spending more time with the engine on inflating your Tyres. Dear oh dear.
@A Kelly: Devil’s a bit Dim
@iohanx: eh most cars do have these and my suggestion was not an attempt to save the planet! It’s simply the quickest most obvious solution for the owners of these cars to get their cars back on the road! DEAR!
The would want their heads deflating.. they are turning the public against them doing stunts like this and not gaining support. How would you react if you went to your car and some green fingerd bell end has deflated all your tyres ?
I’d hazard a safe guess and say the great unwashed unemployed let the air out of the tyres of the employed supporting them.
All grand but the cars could have been needed for an emergency
@Jonathan: Emergencies?
Are they ambulances ?
@ChronicAnxiety: you know what he meant…if you don’t climate change is the least of your worries…
@Damo: Cameron was late for his eloclution classes?
@Damo: pick your kid up from school who fell and smashed his teeth as my son did last week. Ambulances dont get called for that stuff
@andyearley: I’m guessing that you’re replying to the wrong person…
@ChronicAnxiety: Glasgow is well known for its elocution alright…
@andyearley: How did we manage without SUVs ?
Well that’s one way to win support for your cause……
They were only setting the air free. Air was not meant to be put in a rubbery cage
@Mike Murray: LOL
Dipsticks.
@Raymond Barry: They want for the tyres. Not the oil.
The gas thing in Ireland is that we have zero incentives for EV’s and zero infrastructure. EV’s here have massive govt duties on them. Our govt has been championing diesel for the last 15 years even though the most ot Europe recognised that diesel is a far worse polluter than petrol. The duty on petrol has gone so high that running a diesel car is cheaper. Now they’ve increased the duty on diesel. If you live outside a city in Ireland there is no alternative to a car. Most of our trains run on diesel even.
For any play to work we need good foundations. At the minute the decisions being made are with zero thought and are just contributing to making everything more expensive with no alternatives.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: and we certainly won’t have enough electric car mechanics in many more people switch over
@Ian James Burgess: People can train in new technologies, you know. Over the last century, car mechanics have had to learn about coils replacing magnetos, fuel injection replacing carbs, electronic ignition replacing points and the introduction of hydraulic power steering, then electric power steering, OBD, CAN-BUS, ABS, ESP. I think that they’ll manage.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: no incentives? Are you extracting the Dalry water or what? Grants, subsidies, low tax, no VRT, cheapest fuel with no excise duty ? And all paid for those if us NIT driving EV …
No need for the vast majority of these ‘Chelsea Tractors’.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: how do you know these SUV’s weren’t electric, or Hybrid ? This is is mindless vandalism and hopefully the perpetrators by dint of seeking publicity on this, will get identified and prosecuted.
@John Moylan: Even if they were electric, my comment is still true. There is no need for the vast majority of SUVs.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: I use my 4×4 off-road for about 2% of its annual use. When I do use it off-road, there is literally no alternative available. When driving on-road I get between 28-30 mpg average and 33 mpg on a long run – I suspect that is better than a Mini would get in city traffic. I admit to enjoying its powerful Diesel engine for cruising, the high driving position, looking over hedges, and the feeling of security when driving in filthy weather. My car is already 12 years old and I plan to run it until it expires of old age and then replace it with a plug-in hybrid. If you want to criticise me for having a large carbon tyre-print, fair do’s, but in mitigation I don’t do foreign holidays or travel by plane more than twice a year, if even that.
@Patrick Brompton: 33 mpg on a long run??? Seriously, you think that’s good? I get more than double that on a long run in my 2013 plugin Prius, and 60 mpg in a suburban area, and that’s before I plug it in!
@Patrick Brompton: I’ve got a 10 year old 4×4, plan on running it into the ground as well, can’t believe for one minute that scrapping it for an electric would make any sense from a carbon footprint as the vast footprint of producing a new electric vehicle to be run on electricity that may well be sourced to a significant degree by fossil fuel generating power stations. In addition these early electric vehicles will be superseeded by vastly improved models or hydrogen tech within a few years so why do it now when the tech/sensible option is not yet realistic. However you need to look at your foreign travel, if everybody flew abroad twice a year in the west Cavan would have seaside property within a decade. Don’t get why were all being pushed (taxed) to go green to save the planet but its OK to danamage the planet if u can pay destroy it. Why don’t they give everybody a carbon allowance (like rationing during the war), then we wouldn’t have to be told what to do by those who do what they want and we could hit our targets that way.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: it’s not for you to decide what anyone else wants, or needs. This isn’t the USSR.
@Kevin Farrell: 33mog is great. I’m on 24mpg. #noregrets
Have they been to America? The chances of seeing a VW golf sized car here is about the same chance as getting free medical care. 5.7L V8 is a norm, poor Mrs Jones and her 2.5L 4WD Disco is a deckchair on the titanic…
@Shane McGivern: That “Someone else is polluting more than we are, so there’s no need for us to do anything” argument is wearing a bit thin, don’t you think?
@Type17: if Ireland went back to the Stone Age wouldn’t make a difference to the planet if India Russia China and Africa say we will burn and consume what we want
@Type17: not all. Its perfectly valid.
Roads? Where we’re going, we wont need roads!
@Anarch Eco: alright Marty Mcfly
Very mature.
Releasing rubberised air is terrible for the environment.
Defeating the purpose of what they are protesting about. Brain dead individuals
@Timothy Culligan: deflating the purpose…..
Pack of empty headed slogan chaser’s, its such a shame that it attracts such resentful and ungrateful types, such anti human, anti capitalist, anti wealth bandwagon enthusiasts.
Brainless individuals. “How to win friends and influence people “ NOT.
Jheez what a ‘face-plant’ idea.
These climate change zealots have lost the run of themselves and also revealed the type of people they are
@ChronicAnxiety: if you need to get your child to hospital and you call an ambulance and the ambulance says it will be 3-4 hours you put your child in the car and bring them . Not rocket science
Inflating street theatre and deflating public patience. Hot air causes global warming incidentally.
The amount of pearl clutching going on here because some rich people have been mildly inconvinced is a bit much.
Is The Army of the 12 Monkeys under investigation?
This is pure thuggary and how much extra energy is use to re inflate all these cars many hybrids as well as the inconvenience to the driver’s hope they get caught this is vandelism
That il learn em for buying nice things with the money they earned!
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