Kevin Spacey’s trial begins nearly five years after Anthony Rapp accused him of sexual assault

The jury was sworn in on Thursday morning The Civil Trial of Kevin Spaceythe Oscar-winning star who was accused by fellow actor Anthony Rapp of sexual assault at a New York City party in 1986 when Rapp was 14.

Wearing a gray suit and blue tie, Spacey, 63, looked relaxed during the jury selection process. He laughed at the judge’s jokes and smiled during whispered conversations with his attorney.

Meanwhile, Rapp, 50, looked serious as the jurors answered the judge’s questions. He becomes visibly emotional during the break, but cries and dips his eyes with a handkerchief.

The judge formed a jury of six men and six women. They were sworn in after 12:30 p.m., and lawyers on both sides of the trial are expected to deliver opening statements on Thursday afternoon before the court adjourns today’s session.

The experience comes after nearly five years of Rapp first He details his allegations publicly, which Spacey denied. Rapp alleges Spacey grabbed his buttocks and lifted him onto a bed and lay on it briefly before “squirting” Rapp, according to court documents.

“He was trying to seduce me,” Raab told BuzzFeed News. Article published in October 2017. “I don’t know if I would use that language. But I knew he was trying to communicate with me sexually.”

In a tweet the day after the BuzzFeed article was published, Spacey, who would have turned 26 or 27 in 1986, said he has no recollection of the alleged incident. “If I have then acted as he describes, I owe him the most sincere apology for what would have been inappropriately drunk behavior,” he wrote in part.

Rapp was one of the first people to bring allegations of sexual misconduct against Spacey in the early days of #MeToo . movement. The accusations brought an abrupt halt to Spacey’s career in the entertainment industry.

Spacey’s trial is taking place in midtown Manhattan in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The presiding judge is Louis A. Kaplan, who has overseen high-profile cases including the Guantanamo Bay detainees and New York City gangs.

Raab is expected to take a stand after the trial officially begins. He is currently starring in the Paramount + series “Star Trek: Discovery”. He is also known for appearing in the original Broadway production of “Rent” and starring in “Dazed and Disturbed”.

The trial will focus on Rapp’s allegations of beatings and intentional emotional infliction. Kaplan dismissed the sexual assault lawsuit because Rapp filed it too late, according to a court document filed in June.

Rapp seeks damages.

Spacey’s legal troubles extend beyond the New York trial.

In the UK, he faces charges of Sexual assault of three men a decade or more ago. He pleaded not guilty In July during a hearing at the Central Criminal Court in London.

He is expected to stand trial in the UK from June 6, 2023, according to the Associated Press.

Separately, a Los Angeles judge ruled in August that Spacey and his companies must pay nearly $31 million to the producers behind Netflix’s “House of Cards” for losses incurred after he was fired for alleged sexual harassment of crew members, according to court documents.

Spacey, who starred as a fictional treacherous boss, Frank Underwood, denies the harassment allegations.

His character was killed off and co-star Robin Wright took the lead in the show’s sixth and final season.

Spacey won Oscars for The Usual Suspects and American Beauty.