Fox News Flash top Entertainment headlines 09/08
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"Star Trek" actor Anthony Rapp's sexual assault lawsuit against Kevin Spacey is expected to be discussed in court Thursday.
Rapp, who starred in "Rent" on Broadway and in "Star Trek: Discovery" on TV, had first spoken out against the Oscar-winning Spacey in 2017, a decision that led to others speaking up and Spacey’s up-to-then-celebrated career coming to an abrupt end.
On Thursday, the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York is expected to hear oral argument on Spacey's motion in limine in his sexual assault lawsuit. The motion from Spacey's legal team seeks to exclude evidence before it is offered at trial.
The hearing, scheduled for 3 p.m. via video conference before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, is also expected to discuss Rapp's motion concerning Spacey's privilege log.
LAWSUIT AGAINST KEVIN SPACEY DISMISSED BY JUDGE AFTER ACCUSER REFUSED TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES
Anthony Rapp filed a lawsuit against Kevin Spacey in 2020. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket)
Rapp filed the lawsuit against the "House of Cards" star in September 2020. In the lawsuit, Rapp detailed what he has said publicly about Spacey, that the older actor made a sexual advance to him when a teenage Rapp attended a party. When Rapp first made the accusation, Spacey issued a statement saying he didn’t remember the encounter but apologized.
Rapp initially filed the lawsuit with a co-plaintiff who went by the initials C.D. However, the judge dismissed C.D.'s accusations after the co-plaintiff failed to publicly disclose his identity. Rapp, however, is moving to trial.
C.D. previously alleged he met Spacey as a teenager while taking an acting class and that Spacey invited him to his apartment on multiple occasions and engaged in sexual acts with him.
In an early March letter to the judge, attorney Peter Saghir said C.D. felt "extreme anxiety and psychological distress at even the thought of being required to proceed publicly" and had reluctantly decided to drop his claims if Kaplan ordered him to proceed publicly.
JUDGE ORDERS KEVIN SPACEY ACCUSER TO REVEAL HIS IDENTITY IN ORDER TO CONTINUE WITH LAWSUIT
Spacey’s attorneys sought to dismiss the case entirely after the judge ruled on May 3 that C.D. could not move forward with his lawsuit if he remained unwilling to disclose his identity. C.D. was given 10 days to amend his complaint and include his name. According to the court documents, on the 10th day, he issued a letter informing the court that he would not be disclosing his identity and that he understood the consequences of that decision, leading to the judge to officially dismiss the case.
Rapp's co-plaintiff's allegations against Kevin Spacey (pictured) were dismissed from the case because he failed to make his identity public. (Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage)
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C.D.'s allegations aren't the only against Spacey to have been dismissed. Two years ago, a man who said Spacey groped him in a Nantucket bar in 2016 dropped his lawsuit.
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Meanwhile, investigators in England have not yet said whether they will bring criminal charges against Spacey in connection with accusations made against him there for events alleged to have occurred from 1996 to 2013.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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