Kevin Spacey slammed for combining Anthony Rapp apology with coming out as gay

Kevin Spacey was quickly denounced on Twitter for combining his announcement that he is gay with an apology to actor Anthony Rapp, the “Star Trek: Discovery” star who says Spacey tried to assault him when he was 14.

“There’s no amount of drunk or closeted that excuses or explains away asssaulting a 14-year-old child,” wrote LGBT activist and sex advice columnist Dan Savage, the father of a teenage son.

“This is changing the subject. Rapp’s charge is pedophilia,” wrote New York Magazine’s Frank Rich, an executive producer of HBO’s “Veep.”

Also Read:Kevin Spacey Accused of 'Trying to Seduce' Then 14-Year-Old Anthony Rapp

“That Kevin Spacey statement. Nope. Absolutely not. Nope,” wrote comedian, actor and writer Billy Eichner. He later added: “Kevin Spacey has just invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out.”

In an interview with BuzzFeed published Sunday, Rapp said a then-26-year-old Spacey invited him to a party in 1986, placed him on his bed, climbed on top of him and made a sexual advance before the younger actor was able to “squirm” away.

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“I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago,” Spacey said in a message posted on Twitter. “But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years,” Spacey said.

He also said he was aware of “stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy.” He said he has had relationships with both men and woman and “I chose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.”

Rose McGowan, praised for calling out Harvey Weinstein and her rallying for assault survivors, called on the news media to focus on survivors: “Keep focus on #AnthonyRapp. BE THE VICTIM’S VOICE. Help us level the playing field,” she wrote.

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After the sexual misconduct charges leveled at figures like Harvey Weinstein and James Toback, Rapp said he felt emboldened to share his own experience with Spacey, who became a two-time Oscar winner and now stars in the Netflix hit “House of Cards.”

“Part of what allowed the Harvey situation to occur was that there was this witting and unwitting conspiracy of silence,” said Rapp. “The only way these things can continue is if there’s no attention being paid to it, if it’s getting forgotten.”

Here are the tweets:

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