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SDNY COURTHOUSE, Oct 6 – Anthony Rapp's lawsuit against Kevin Spacey began trial on October 6 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.  Inner City Press attended then tweeted here.

 On the way in video I, II; afterward Space and Vlog. Here's the live tweeted thread by Inner City Press of the openings, here

OK - Rapp v. Kevin Spacey sex abuse trial opening arguments begin  Kevin Spacey is sitting with two lawyers at the defense table, further from the judge. Rapp is at front table, with three lawyers (whom Inner City Press saw outside the SDNY cafeteria between 1 and 2 pm).  Drum roll.

Judge Kaplan, at 2:10 pm: OK, let's bring the jury in... Counsel?

Peter Saghir: We represent Anthony Rapp. To understand this case, you need to know this. When Anthony was just 14 years old, something unacceptable happened. It involved a 26 year man, Kevin Spacey

Saghir: You will see Anthony Rapp as a man, but I ask you to remember he was a child. You are going to learn that Mr. Rapp for the majority of his life has had relationships with men, as has Kevin Spacey. But that's irrelevant.

 Saghir: Anthony Rapp first performed as an actor in camp in Pennsylvania. He started getting paid work. He had done the musical Evita, and The King and I. His mom supported him in his acting. Anthony is a self-proclaimed nerd...

 Saghir: Acting helped Anthony get out of himself. He was cast in Precious Sons, with Ed Harris. At the same time, Kevin Spacey was in Long Day's Journey Into Night. Anthony and his mom were living on 81st Street near York Avenue. He won an award.

Saghir: At an event, he met Kevin Spacey. Then Anthony's friend John, aged 19, came to visit. They'd done Oliver together.  They went together to a matinee of Long Day's Journey into Night. They went backstage to meet the cast, it was a tradition.

 Saghir: Kevin Spacey came down. He invited the two of them out to dinner, then out to the Limelight Club on 6th Avenue and 20th Street, an adult nightclub. Anthony didn't have ID. Spacey talked to the doorman and they got in.

Saghir: Anthony will tell you, music was loud, people were drinking, it wasn't really his scene.  Kevin Spacey invites Anthony to a party at his apartment. John will say he was there, and flirting with Kevin Spacey. Anthony came out of the bathroom and John sat up

Saghir: For the party, another night, Anthony walked south to the 60s. The apartment has a view of NYC. It's a gathering of 5 or 6 people. Anthony only recognizes Kevin Spacey. They are all adults. So he goes into the bedroom to watch TV.

Saghir: Kevin Spacey comes into the bedroom. He is unsteady on his feet. He is intoxicated. The people from the party had left. He's alone with Kevin Spacey in his bedroom. No words were spoke. Kevin Spacey puts his hand under Anthony's butt

 Saghir: Kevin Spacey picks Anthony up like a groom would. Spacey lays Anthony down on the bed. Anthony is 5'5'', 100 pounds. Kevin Spacey climbs on top of him, and grinds his pelvis against the side of his hip. Anthony is shocked.

Saghir: Anthony's hands are schmushed to the side. This was not horseplay.  We will prove that Kevin Spacey did his to gratify his own sexual desires. Anthony wriggles out and escapes to the bathroom. He runs out to the front door. Kevin Spacey follows him.

 Saghir: Kevin Spacey says, Are you sure you want to go? Kevin Spacey is trying to get him to stay, to gratify his sexual desires. Back in Illinois, Anthony tells a friend what Kevin Spacey did... Time went up, Spacey became better known

 Saghir: Anthony's friends ask him, Did you see "L.A. Confidential?" And he remembers what happened in that bedroom. This violation at the age of 14 has impacted Anthony, he will describe how. It was no mistake. This was a deliberate act.

Saghir: You will hear in this trial from another man... Anthony read an article, about the author's encounter with Harvey Weinstein. He feels it was similar. And feels, maybe he can hold Kevin Spacey to account. He speaks to a reporter, and a story is published

Saghir: Kevin Spacey responded to the article with a statement on Twitter: I have a lot of respect for Anthony Rapp as an actor... I do not remember the encounter. If I did it, I owe him an apology... I now live as a gay man. But not a word about the 14 year old.

 Saghir: Afterward, Kevin Spacey says his memory changed, it never happened, Anthony is a liar. Both sides took depositions; we deposed Spacey. After that tweet, he went through boxes and boxes of documents. Now he claims it was a studio apartment.

Saghir: He wrote a draft before the tweet, he wrote that he took drugs & drank a lot. When asked he said he meant 1987, not 1986. He's retreating from his words.  We retained Lisa Roccio. She found no malingering & no exaggeration. But Spacey retained Dr Loftus...

Saghir: We will ask you, jurors, to render a verdict of 100% justice. Thank you for your time.

 Judge Kaplan: Defense?

Jennifer Keller: My client Kevin Spacey wants justice. This case is about whether you think this happened. It is not a trial of every other rumor

 Keller: It's not about if you like Frank Underwood. It's about this thing - did it happen? Mr Rapp is now 50. He created a story and it grew. He has been repeating this same false story. Never went to the police. He'd say it when he saw Kevin Space get an Oscar

 Keller: He's been telling this story to raise his own profile. He never became the international star Kevin Spacey did. He has been simmering with resentment. It's not easy to defend this, after 30 years.

Keller: Anthony's mother gave up her career as a nurse to help Anthony. But Anthony wanted to spread his wings. He wrote a book about this, about his life. He'd hit his mother in the face, knocked her glasses off.

 Keller: Yes Kevin Spacey had to go through boxes and boxes to find out which apartment he was living in then. He is a packrat. But he found the lease. It was one room. You could see everything.

Keller: Because Anthony Rapp never went to the police, it never got checked out. He can't say who the guests were. Facts are stubborn things. And John, when he was deposed, told the story about the Limelight, then that they went to the apartment.

 Keller: The reality is that Mr. Spacey was interested in John, not Anthony. Mr. Spacey called John and his mother in Illinois. They both have ancestors from Scotland. This story does not match up with the facts, or this other witness. It just doesn't.

Keller: Why make up a bedroom story? Well, being surprised that all the guests had left only make sense if there is a separate room. Let's see what Mr. Rapp said.  [Plays deposition, questions about windows and doors]

 Keller: Mr. Rapp did not detect any erection, and he knew what that was. Mr. Rapp described Mr. Spacey as having been a dead weight.

 Keller: As Mr. Spacey's star rose, Mr. Rapp grew resentful. "Rent" was the apex of his career. He peaked in 2000 and grew bitter. So he became an out gay actor.  I don't know if he would have been a leading man anyway.

Keller: Mr. Rapp knew that Mr. Spacey was in the closet, and through he could be doing things for the gay community.  Mr. Rapp would go to Oscar parties and tell people about what Mr. Spacey supposedly done to him. He threw pencils at the screen one year.

 Keller: It's not a true story, but he did tell it a lot. Mr. Rapp blames everything on Mr. Spacey - that he cheated on his boyfriend, and that he cannot assert himself in sexual relationship. We'll show you different. He forgets his lines? It's Mr. Spacey.

 Keller: He doesn't want to seem to want to talk about other traumas. He claims Yul Brenner punched him at 10 years old, he say. But he doesn't want to talk about it. Please use your common sense when you listen to Dr. Roccio. There was no PTSD.

 Keller: What about this tweet that Mr. Spacey sent? It was right after the Harvey Weinstein allegations. All sorts of people are worried about being canceled. Here comes Mr. Rapp. It is panic, among Mr. Spacey's business manager and agent

 Keller: This is one of the cardinal rules of the so-called #MeToo movement, that you have to believe the victim. You'll see that Mr. Spacey said, this didn't happen, I don't remember it. They told him to apologize. It was cleverly set up by Mr. Rapp

Keller: Mr. Rapp didn't go to the New York Times. He didn't even go to the New York Post... This so-called independent journalist was a personal friend of Mr. Rapp. They plotted together to nail Mr. Spacey.

Keller: Mr. Spacey was only trying to be respectful to Mr. Rapp, he was asking, Could it have happened? They made him apologize to keep the social media mob from coming after him. Mr. Spacey knew he had never been attracted to kids.

 Keller: This book Rapp wrote, it was supposedly about "Rent" - but it was about him. And it didn't have this story on it, even anonymized... Mr. Rapp had a lot of therapy. He had one therapist for twenty years - twenty years. Never mentioned Mr. Spacey.

 Keller: I know it is a super-charged environment we live in these days. But you all are not super-charged. There is no liability here. Thank you. Judge Kaplan: OK folks, that's it for the day.

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