“Of course, many close friends knew of Rapp’s encounter with the actor in the 1980s, including some of us in the media. But what could be done with that story? There were only two people in the room, they had never met again and no parade of additional accusers was forthcoming — so, right or wrong, we told ourselves we could not report it.
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.”– Bruce Steele, a former editor at Out magazine, in an op-ed published in The Citizen-Times that attempts to explain why they didn’t come forward with Rapp’s allegations in 2001.
tham
I wish I could hear more from Rapp than a three sentence explanation.
I have a lot of questions before, you know, we destroy another man’s career.
Like, how did you know Kevin Spacey before the incident? How did you get invited to the Party? How did you know it as Kevin Spacey since, he wasn’t famous and you never seen him afterwards.
How did you end up there by yourself? What was your parents think you were doing?
Basically, if you are going to tell the story, you have to tell the Whole story…cause right now, there’s a lot of things missing that need to be explained.
Paco
It’s automatic victim shaming if you question accusations of sexual harassment or abuse.
tham
Obviously you don’t know what victim shaming is…
These are legit questions…these are question people will ask because they need the answers before forming an opinion.
It’s ridiculous to think that the little that he’s said so far is enough. You come forward to tell your story. I want to hear his story.
Paco
I do know what it is and I agree that there needs to be more answers from Rapp. Problem is, any attempt to question the alleged victim brings people out of the woodwork screaming that such questions are shaming the victim.
Brian
Kevin’s non denial of the story is more than enough to make me believe that it happened. I’m actually shocked that his lawyers let him say anything other than a categorical denial of everything, since it involved a 14 year old.
Howard Roark
Also, I haven’t heard of any corroborating information about the incident. At this point, it is just one person making an unsubstantiated claim.
I remember in the 1980’s, an acquaintance of mine in Philadelphia made an accusation of sexual assault against a Roman Catholic priest. It made the news, and the priest got a lot of attention. Problem was, he made the whole story up, which he admitted later. He had been diagnosed with AIDS and had a lot of resentment against the RC Church for other reasons, so he decided to take some revenge.
The priest was forgiving, and the whole matter was dropped.
Just because someone makes an accusation, doesn’t make it true.
Paco
@Brian – Yeah, Spacey screwed himself with that response. It was flat out wrong that he tried to “seduce” (Rapp’s word) a 14 year old boy.
I was having sexual encounters with men twice my age when I was 15. At the time I was curious and willing. As I got older, I thought it was pretty gross that those guys would have sex with someone so young. But I don’t feel victimized by it.
My2Cents
Actually Anthony Rapp detailed the entire incident including how a 14 yo ended up in a 26 yo’s Bedroom. I won’t reiterate it here, you can google it if you really like. Just know it is very convincing.
tham
No it’s not, I just read the avocate article…
He says Kevin Spacey invited him to his party. Doesn’t explain how he met him or anything like that…he then says he gets there, gets bored then goes into Kevin’s bedroom sits on his his bed for the rest of the party watching TV.
He didn’t realize the party ended, Kevin came in and climbed on top of him. Rapp then excused himself to the bathroom and then left.
That’s the story Rapp said in the Avocate…and that explaination is very odd and well not that damning
misterheck
@tham The Advocate interview was from years ago. The story that just came out was reported in BuzzFeed. You can read it here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/anthony-rapp-kevin-spacey-made-sexual-advance-when-i-was-14
darwinbell
We have all that information from his original statement and story
OzJosh
The rush to paint Spacey as the gay equivalent of Weinstein is just shameful. Even if he did make a drunken pass at Rapp, that’s all he did. He did not abuse or coerce him, or engage in the kind of power play that Weinstein did. He actually took “no” for an answer, as even Rapp’s account makes clear. And we do not know that he knew Rapp was 14. I’ve just read a desperate article that uses anecdotes from various would-be actors relating their stories of “abuse” from Spacey – stories like “he rubbed my knee and suggested we go back to his room”. And that was about the worst. Okay, he was a sad closet case and a bit of a lech, but that is not the same thing as a dangerous predator. And if screaming “victim shaming” at people attempting to make moral distinctions is your idea of justice, then it is you who should be ashamed.
tham
After reading Buzzfeed…again, I’m having the “I have more questions now”.
I’m having a really hard time understanding his story…it’s not about believing him, it’s understanding…there’s a difference.
The Avocate story has differences than the Buzzfeed story. For example, Avocate story says he never seen him after that…the Buzzfeed story says he continued to work with him on a play and thought about talking to him about it…
That’s a big change in story.
e.c.
And not to take Spacey’s “side” (because he has always had a rep for being creepy with younger guys) but in this instance he walked into his own bedroom to find someone alone on his bed. It’s certainly plausible that he took that as an invitation on Rapp’s part (but yes, still totally inappropriate that he acted on it).
DCguy
Oh Look, ANOTHER Brand new account using the EXACT same lines as the few OTHER brand new accounts trying to attack the victim and deflect from Spacey.
Wow, the trolls aren’t even bothering to try to hide anymore.
Oh, and by the way, a quick hint. When Rapp has told the story in TWO different interviews in the past 20 years trying to claim that he hasn’t said anything wasn’t a great first line. You should have gone with something else.
misterheck
@tham I’m more than happy to help you try to understand better. What are your questions?
I could not find any place in the Advocate story (https://www.advocate.com/news/2001/06/01/music-boys%E2%80%A6and-everyone-else) where he says he never saw Spacey again after that incident. I’ve pasted below the part of the Advocate article that mentions the encounter.
I also could not find anything in the Buzzfeed article that says he continued to work with him on a play. He mentions one time when Spacey having lunch with someone else nearby, while Rapp was shooting the film version of “Six Degrees of Separation” (Spacey was not in the film, and was only there “visiting someone he knew.”) He does mention running into Spacey in the bathroom at the Tony Awards in 1999, but says that’s the only time they’ve interacted that he can recall.
Let me know what your other questions are and, as I said, I’m happy to help answer.
misterheck
@tham This is the only part of the Advocate article that mentions the Spacey incident, as far as I can tell:
Advocate: That makes me think of [a certain leading man] in [a certain award-winning film].
Rapp: It’s hard for me to evaluate his acting because I’m so angry at him. I met him when I was 14 because we were both in plays and he invited me to a party at his house. I was bored, so I was in his bedroom watching TV and didn’t know everybody had left, and he came to the bedroom and he picked me up and lay down on top of me.
Advocate: Oh, my God! What did you do?
Rapp: I squirmed away and went into the bathroom. I came out and I excused myself, and he’s like “You sure you want to go?” I always wonder if he remembers it, because he was pretty drunk. And he’s had so many.
Roan
Read the interview posted by Buzzfeed. All of your questions are answered. Oh, and f**k you and your victim shaming.
Jimmy
So riddle me this. The Advocates policy of not outing people, also includes not outing predatory behavior? THIS MAKES NO SENSE TO ME, and has NOTHING to do with being cautious of someone’s sexuality. This, in and of itself says, we will also hide predatory behavior in order to hide someone’s sexuality, that by the way, seemingly everyone already knew about.
Brian
They didn’t want to get sued into oblivion. Accusing someone of pedophilia based on a single, unverifiable incident isn’t real smart.
OzJosh
Grow up. There are serious legal ramifications to making defamatory accusations. There is also clearly a world of ebetween backing the stories of more than 35 women all telling the same convincing story (as with Weinstein or Cosby… or Trump) and one boy’s story about a drunken pass (not abuse of misuse of power), with no corroborating evidence at all.
OzJosh
And pedophilia is sexual interest in a child. A post-pubescent 14-year-old is not a child. You can call it inappropriate, but it ain’t pedophilia. Not by any legal or psychiatric definition. If you’re going to make career-ending accusations about people, then at least know what you’re talking about.
Stache
Great point. They could’ve easily went down like Gawker did.
Brian
14 years old is 8th or 9th grade. That is not post pubescent, that is smack dab in the middle of puberty. I vividly remember being fascinated with the boys who had pubic hair in the 8th grade locker room, because most of us still didn’t. So yeah. I’d say 14 is still young enough to be considered pedophilia, or damn close enough to it.
Here are some “famous” 14 year olds. I don’t see almost adults, I see a lot of children.
https://www.famousbirthdays.com/age/14.html
DCguy
The excuse of not wanting to get sued doesn’t hold as much water considering that all the Advocate had to do was Quote the answers. It was Rapp that would have been opening himself up for a lawsuit and he did not seem nervous about it.
It’s the same reason that a news organization can broadcast a completely false story or a lie as long as it’s just somebody else saying it. I.E. If Sean Hannity has on a person who says that Hillary Clinton murdered Susan B. Anthony and is mean to puppies, it isn’t Sean or Fox that gets sued. It’s the person saying it.
So the Advocate was fairly well shielded, they just didn’t care.
GorgeousNotGeorge
he did fill it in. you have to look at the whole story elsewhere. But he explained all the situations that occurred, why he was there etc.
tham
Where? Could you find a link for me cause I can’t find it anywhere
tham
I actually just read the Avocate interview…I have even more questions…
misterheck
@tham The Advocate interview was from years ago. The story that just came out was reported in BuzzFeed. You can read it here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/anthony-rapp-kevin-spacey-made-sexual-advance-when-i-was-14
tham
I’ve read both of them…it’s an odd story. I mean that, you go to a party, you don’t know anyone, gets bored, so you decide to hang out by yourself in the host bedroom watching TV for hours…until,everyone leaves…
Without further info, just as it is, it just makes no sense.
JaredMacBride
The Advocate declined to name the alleged perp because it would have shut off their access to Hollywood, which they always cared about far more than they cared about protecting young gay people. In other words, it was all about the money.
Wolfie
This is true and all major LGBT sites knew about Spacey’s “tastes”.
Jaxton
The glbt media is s joke. Isn’t the lesbian site afterellen owned by straight guys? Lol – what a joke!!!
THAT Steve
It’s niche reporting. Like with soap opera reporting and other smaller pools, the reporters and publications don’t dare upset the people they are reporting on too much. They’re more of an adjunct to the publicists than true reporters…
Wolfie
I must be honest here. I know for a FACT that many LGBT outlets knew about Spacey’s taste in younger men and that he was in the closet but all refused to say anything except a few independent blogs.
Donston
The majority of LGBT media is about pushing agenda, making sure not to offend anyone and maintaining a connection to entertainers and businesses who want to sell themselves to ‘mo’s. It’s not about insight. It’s not about reporting. And it damn sure isn’t about genuinely helping people.
There have been rumors of Spacey hooking up with underage guys for years, as well as being sexually aggressive and engaging in coercion with underage males and non-consenting males. They knew of at least one specific account and did nothing. At least the NYT tried to expose Weinstien.
michaelmt1009
I am in no way condoning anyone forcing themselves on anyone gay or straight but this happened 31 years ago. For those of you that weren’t around in the 70’s & 80’s sex was pretty free and frequent and if you think about 31 years ago Kevin Spacey was 27 years old and no one knows what really transpired between the two of them. If this happened today then I would see cause for issues but now they are trying to destroy this actor and his career over a drunken night 31 years ago. I doubt that this 14 year old was that naive. Again I do not condone this behavior but I think we are making way too much out of it today. Unless several other men come forward and make claims I can’t condemn the man for one drunken incident and from what little facts that have come forward it appears that not much happened.
Paco
According to IMDB, his first movie role was released in 1986. He played a subway thief. Doesn’t sound like he was very powerful back then to control the destiny or careers of other actors.
Donston
Actually, more people have come forward about Spacey’s behavior, or have you not been paying attention? Hell, his aggression towards males and underage males pretty well known before this broke about Rapp. And once again, people are doing anything possible to put blame on the victim. Are you really trying to access how naive or not naive a 14 year old Broadway new comer was?
DCguy
Ugh, another “I don’t condone the behavior” followed up by an attempt to try to deflect any responsibility for attacking a 14 year old kid. Oh, and again, from a new account…..
How surprising.
Danny595
Translation: “Hey, we were promiscuous in 1986, so it’s no big deal to hump a child!” This is what a culture of promiscuity leads to. Evil acts are justified, excused, or at least belittled, in the interest of acquiring bodies for sex.
Gay youth need and deserve adult gay men who look out for them, protect their interests and keep them safe, especially when they are rejected by their families and are isolated. Instead of being a protective force and a good role model, scum like Spacey see them as raw meat to be exploited and used. Disgusting, the whole lot of you. Can’t wait for the Boomers and Gen xers to die off.
Heywood Jablowme
Damn – anytime I find myself on the same side of an issue as Danny595, I must reconsider it.
“Can’t wait for the Boomers and Gen xers to die off.” Sadly, long before our demise, all the millennials will be killed by texting in crosswalks.
Aw, Danny595, your grandma must love you! But if she reads that she won’t leave you her valuable collection of commemorative Jim Beam whiskey bottles.
Chris
This is a case where the rush to judgment outweighed any sense of getting to the bottom of what happened all that time ago. People’s memories are not infallible and loads of psychological research demonstrates how the same story will change in the retelling. That is why courts no longer allow for so-called recovered memories and any lawyer worth their salt would have a field day with how the two versions of Rapp’s story differ in details and tone.
Having said that, Spacey did himself absolutely no favors with his response to the allegations. As someone tweeted: Spacey invented what we all thought is impossible–a bad time to come out. Spacey’s career is all but dead; only time will tell if he can ever come-back from this mess.
Donston
Rapp’s story has been well-known for quite some time. He’s told more than a few industry people and obviously told some of the story the The Advocate almost twenty years ago. It’s hardly a “recovered memory”. Also, Spacey has been accused of similar behaviors towards other males, some of which were underage. And once again, someone is concerned about Spacey’s rep rather than Spacey’s behavior.
bookworm
The “witch hunt” this has become is outrageous. An indiscretion that allegedly occurred over thirty years ago is hardly worth the ruination of someone’s amazing career. Sounds like a major case of old fashion jealousy. The bigger and brighter Mr. Spacey’s star became, Mr. Rapp descended into his own translation of McCarthyism. At least Rapp showed amazing courage in bringing this allegation to the forefront at the same time as was being done by 200 other people. ?
Donston
More trolls with fake pics and multiple accounts. Sweetie, you expose yourself with uses of words like “indiscretion”, “jealousy” and “McCarthyism”. At least pretend to have sense and empathy. Otherwise, no one will take your trolling seriously.
Loki
Well, Rapp’s response to seeing Spacey in Working Girl was telling… there definitely seemed to be some resentment there at the fact that Spacey wasn’t out.
DCguy
ANOTHER new troll account calling an attempt to molest a kid “An Indiscretion” Oh, I’m sorry, was Spacey a 40 year old man who was seen kissing his brothers wife? Because THAT’s what an indiscretion is.
Forcing a kid onto a bed, holding him tight while he fights you off him and runs and locks himself in a bathroom is called something else.
But nice try Troll. Oh, and if you’re going to use a fake pic, try getting one that isn’t on Google.
Donston
Putting on my psychologist’s hat: if Spacey’s attractions and passions leaned greatly towards adult men there is a chance he could have grown out of this type of predatory and aggressive behavior and it would have morphed into mere fetish. But because the majority of his orientation leans towards very young males (13-19 probably and 19 is likely too old if they don’t look 15) it stunted his maturation. You can’t build a life with and have a serious romantic and emotional connection with someone that you want remain under 20 forever. That along with money and stature helped aide the megalomaniac tendencies that were already there. It also likely helped egg on his gay-shame and led to him wanting to hold on to some type of hetero persona despite being in a glass closet for almost two decades.
Bradsman
The Advocate did the honorable thing in not mentioning Spacey, for the reasons they mentioned. Rapp didn’t. I sincerely hope it backfired on him and he loses work.
DCguy
And ANOTHER troll account attacking the victim. I’m curious. Who is Spacey’s P.R. team? I think we should know the name of the company that’s sending all of these trolls in here.
jd.cali
I’m sad that the advocate were unwilling to report on a story from a victim, regardless of Kevin’s out or not out status. It seems like bad journalism. It’s a magazine, not a priest. They should have followed-up and investigated the report. It is a serious allegation (molesting a child), and not a gay rendezvous. Child molestation is neither gay nor straight. It’s a serious, dispicable crime that may have continued for all these years and the Advocate sat on their hands to protect their principle of not outing? That’s shameful. Again, Crimes against children and simply that. Neither gay or straight.