Jurors at a federal court in New York have concluded that the embattled House of Cards star Kevin Spacey did not sexually abuse US actor Anthony Rapp in 1986, when the latter was 14.
After the jury read the verdict on Thursday, Spacey was seen dropping his head and then hugging his lawyers. He did not speak to reporters as he left the courthouse.
Rapp's lawyer Richard Steigman accused the two-time Academy Award-winning actor of lying on the witness stand.
"He [Spacey] lacks credibility. Sometimes the simple truth is the best. The simple truth is that this happened”, Steigman is quoted as saying by Sky News.
The Hollywood star’s lawyer Jennifer Keller, for his part, said after the trial that the defense was "very grateful to the jury for seeing through these false allegations.”
During the trial, Rapp testified that in 1986, Spacey, then 26, had invited him to his place for a party, approached him in a bedroom after the other guests left and briefly laid on top of him on a bed, something that Rapp said forced him to immediately leave the apartment.
Spacey, 63, has repeatedly denied the allegations, telling jurors that he “knew” that he “wouldn't have any sexual interest in Anthony Rapp or any child.” Thus, the trial that resulted from the #MeToo movement has come to an end.
Separately, the Usual Suspects star is charged with four counts of sexual assault, which ostensibly took place in the UK between 2005 and 2013. In July, Spacey pleaded not guilty to all four charges.