Jury finds Kevin Spacey not liable for battery

A jury has found actor Kevin Spacey not liable for battery in a civil lawsuit brought against him by actor Anthony Rapp, who has alleged that Spacey made a sexual advance on him in the 1980s.

Jurors released their decision in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, shortly after they began deliberating earlier in the day.

Rapp has accused Spacey of sexually abusing him in Spacey’s apartment after a party, when Rapp was 14 years old.

Spacey has entirely denied the allegations.

Rapp was an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Rent” and currently has a role in the Paramount series “Star Trek: Discovery.”

The lawsuit sought to award Rapp $40 million in damages, according to The Associated Press.

Rapp originally made the allegations against Spacey in 2017, saying that Spacey made advances on him and laid on top of him on a bed.

Spacey was fired from the Netflix show “House of Cards” and replaced in the movie “All the Money in the World” in the aftermath of the allegations.

Spacey is facing criminal charges in the United Kingdom over allegations that he sexually assaulted three men on three separate occasions between 2005 and 2013. He announced in May that he would voluntarily appear before a U.K. court to defend himself, saying that he was “confident” he could beat the charges.

Spacey’s attorney, Jennifer Keller, attempted to sow doubt in Rapp’s account, saying that Rapp made up the incident. She pointed to Rapp’s claim that the incident occurred in a one-bedroom apartment, even though Spacey lived in a studio at the time.

Rapp’s attorney, Richard Steigman, said Spacey lacks credibility and lied when he said the encounter could not have happened.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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