Actor Kevin Spacey comes out as gay, apologizes after misconduct claim

LOS ANGELES — Kevin Spacey came out as gay early Monday and apologized to actor Anthony Rapp, who accused the Hollywood star of making a sexual advance on him at a 1986 party when he was only 14 years old.

Spacey’s announcement, posted on his Twitter account at midnight, came after Rapp — best known for being part of the original cast of the hit Broadway musical Rent — made the accusation in an interview with Buzzfeed News.

Spacey, 58, a double Oscar winner and star of the Netflix series House of Cards, said he did not remember the encounter but that “if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” He went on say that Rapp’s accusation “encouraged me to address other things about my life.”

“As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man.

“I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.”

Rapp, 46, told Buzzfeed that in 1986, while both he and Spacey were performing in Broadway shows, Spacey invited the then 14-year-old to a party at his New York apartment. Spacey would have been 26 at the time. —