The judge tossed the emotional distress claim after Mr. Rapp’s team rested its case on Monday morning. The defense successfully argued that the portion of the lawsuit was based on the same conduct that had served as the basis of the battery allegation.
The case now solely rests on Mr. Rapp’s claim that Mr. Spacey committed battery against him after a party at Mr. Spacey’s Manhattan apartment, during a Broadway season in which both were performing in shows. According to Mr. Rapp’s account, Mr. Spacey picked him up, laid him down on a bed and pressed his groin into Mr. Rapp’s hip before Mr. Rapp was able to wriggle out from under him and leave.
Mr. Spacey denied in court that he had ever been alone with Mr. Rapp but said he did recall a different night that Mr. Rapp had described.
Mr. Rapp, who had been performing in a Broadway play called “Precious Sons,” said that he gone with a friend to see the play Mr. Spacey was in, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” As Mr. Rapp recalled, he and the friend, John Barrowman, had gone backstage after the show and Mr. Spacey had invited them to dinner and then to a nightclub.
Mr. Spacey testified that he had been attracted to, and flirting with, Mr. Barrowman, who was 19 at the time. After the nightclub, they visited Mr. Spacey’s apartment, where, Mr. Spacey testified, he had gently pushed Mr. Barrowman onto his bed while Mr. Rapp was in the bathroom. The men sat up, Mr. Spacey testified, when Mr. Rapp exited the bathroom.
“I had no interest in Mr. Rapp joining us,” Mr. Spacey said.
Mr. Rapp has denied that he had seen Mr. Spacey and Mr. Barrowman flirting or that they had visited Mr. Spacey’s apartment that night. But in video testimony played by the defense on Monday, Mr. Barrowman, now an actor known for his role in the TV show “Doctor Who,” recalled the evening as Mr. Spacey did.
