It has been a little less than five years since Kevin Spacey's Oscar-winning career was upended by a series of sexual misconduct accusations, starting when Anthony Rapp accused him of making an unwanted advance in 1986.
Both actors are now facing off in Manhattan federal court for a trial in Rapp's $40 million civil lawsuit over the incident, which allegedly occurred when he was 14.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan and lawyers for both sides on Thursday selected a jury of 12 people.
All jurors denied personally knowing Spacey or Rapp, or having read or heard anything about the case that would prevent them from reaching a fair verdict.
“You may have heard of one or the other of them,” Mr Kaplan told prospective jurors before screening them for possible bias. “You may have seen them doing what they do for a living.”
Spacey, 63, has denied Rapp's accusations and other sexual misconduct charges.
“We look forward to a trial by jury with actual evidence rather than trial by social media,” Spacey's lawyer Jennifer Keller said on Wednesday.
Rapp, who starred in the Broadway musical Rent, claimed in a November 2020 lawsuit that Spacey forcibly touched him during a party at Spacey's New York home. He said he left after the brief encounter.
Rapp, 50, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
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Spacey at a pre-trial hearing at district court in Nantucket, Massachusetts in June 2019. AP -
Kevin Spacey arrives to face a charge of sexual assault at Nantucket District Court in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on January 7, 2019. Reuters -
Spacey remained silent during his appearance at Nantucket District Court. Reuters -
Spacey won a best supporting actor Academy Award for his work portraying the limping criminal Verbal Kint in 1995’s 'The Usual Suspects'. Courtesy MGM Studios -
Spacey stands in district court during arraignment on a charge of indecent assault and battery in Nantucket. The Inquirer and Mirror / AP -
Spacey in 'House of Cards'. Photo: Netflix / AP -
Spacey arrives at Nantucket District Court in Massachusetts on January 7, 2019. Reuters -
Spacey accepts a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama with 'House of Cards'. AFP -
Spacey as Richard III in a version of the Shakespeare play directed by Sam Mendes in 2012 at The Old Vic Theatre in London. AP
Spacey won Oscars for Best Actor in American Beauty and Best Supporting Actor in The Usual Suspects, but his career largely ended after more than 20 men accused him of sexual misconduct.
Netflix dropped him from its political drama House of Cards, and Christopher Plummer replaced him in the role of J Paul Getty in All the Money in the World a few weeks before the movie's scheduled release.
Spacey faces a criminal trial in London next year after pleading not guilty to five sex offence charges over alleged assaults between 2005 and 2013.
He was charged with indecent assault in Massachusetts in 2018 over allegations he sexually abused an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket bar in 2016, but prosecutors later dropped the charges after the victim refused to give evidence.
