Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp, 46, revealed via Buzzfeed on Sunday that Kevin Spacey, 58, made sexual advances toward him when Rapp was just 14. 

At the time, both Rapp and Spacey were working on Broadway. As Rapp details in his interview with Buzzfeed, Spacey, the House of Cards star known for his Broadway performances and sinister on-screen roles, befriended Rapp and invited him to a party at his house one night in 1986. Spacey was 26. Though Rapp was the only minor at the party, he said that wasn’t particularly odd at the time. 

“It was a different era,” he told Buzzfeed reporter Adam B. Vary. “I went to work by myself. I would walk to the subway, and go to the theater by myself.”

When Rapp eventually got bored, he went into Spacey’s apartment bedroom, sat on the bed and watched TV. After everyone else had gone, Spacey entered the room. Rapp said he appeared drunk:

“He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold. But I don’t, like, squirm away initially, because I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then he lays down on top of me.”

“He was trying to seduce me,” Rapp said. “I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.”

Eventually Rapp managed to get away, but said Spacey followed him to the front door, asking if Rapp really wanted to leave. Rapp said yes, and went home.

Rapp told Vary that today, he’s thankful nothing worse happened. But he remains deeply disturbed by the experience. “I could never imagine [that] anyone else I know would do something like that to a 14-year-old boy,” he said. He also said his stomach still “churns” whenever he sees Spacey, and described his inner turmoil witnessing Spacey rise to fame. 

Rapp told several friends about the experience throughout the years. Buzzfeed verified this with seven of those people. 

Why is Rapp just now going public, decades later? As he tweeted Sunday, he was encouraged by the many people speaking out in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Rapp wants to “shine a light and hopefully make a difference” with his story.

to shine a light and hopefully make a difference, as they have done for me. 2/3

— Anthony Rapp SAG-AFTRA National Board Member (@albinokid) October 30, 2017

Spacey Pivots From Apologizing to Coming Out

Spacey responded to the accusation with a controversial statement Sunday night. 

“I honestly do not remember the encounter,” Spacey tweeted. “But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”

Spacey went on to officially come out as gay in the same statement. “This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life,” he said of his alleged sexual abuse of a minor. He acknowledges that rumors about his sexual orientation have swirled for years, but he has previously kept that aspect of his life private.

He picked the day of Rapp’s testimony to announce that “I choose now to live as a gay man.” 

pic.twitter.com/X6ybi5atr5

— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017

Media outlets immediately gobbled up Spacey’s statement. Some, like ABC, New York Daily News and Reuters highlighted the fact that Spacey came out as gay over his alleged sexual assault of Rapp, though people have suspected Spacey’s homosexuality for decades. Others on Twitter were quick to criticize headlines that made Spacey’s sexuality seem like the central point of the story.

As CNN’s Jake Tapper noted, Esquire reported Spacey’s suspected homosexuality in the 1990s.

That Kevin Spacey is gay was news in 1997. Anthony Rapp’s announcement is news in 2017. pic.twitter.com/LCGprtCf43

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 30, 2017

On Monday Netflix announced it would not continue hit show House of Cards after season 6, currently mid-production. “Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled” by the accusations against Spacey, the streaming service said in a statement. According to The Associated Press, Netflix made the decision to pull House of Cards months ago. 

But on Tuesday, Netflix said it was suspending production on season 6. The decision will allow Netflix and Media Rights Capital “to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew.” Season 6 was set to air in 2018. 

Deadline reported that upcoming film Gore, produced by Netflix and also starring Spacey, may be cancelled after the revelations regarding Spacey’s alleged behavior.

JUST IN: Netflix suspends production on final season of "House of Cards" amid allegations against Kevin Spacey. https://t.co/bbCoC3j3YF pic.twitter.com/DW568mdsvJ

— ABC News (@ABC) October 31, 2017

“We All Knew”

While Rapp’s public accusations of Spacey are new, rumors surrounding not only his sexuality — but his sexual misbehavior — are not.

“Like Harvey we all knew about u,” actress Rosie O’Donnell tweeted, responding directly to Spacey’s statement.

As Fox News reported, comedian Wanda Sykes slammed Spacey for coming out during his apology. “You do not get to ‘choose’ to hide under the rainbow,” she tweeted. O’Donnell and Sykes are both prominent members of the LGBT community. Rapp is also gay.

Others have pointed to a scene in the Fox cartoon Family Guy, created by comedian Seth MacFarlane, that seems to nod toward unsavory Spacey rumors. The clip, which aired in 2005, shows Stewie, the family infant, running and screaming, “Help! I’ve escaped from Kevin Spacey’s basement! Help me!”

MacFarlane also gained attention after people remembered an incriminating joke he made about Weinstein at the 2013 Academy Awards, before a flood victims publicly came forward.

Rapp’s accusations come on the heels of actor Corey Feldman’s announcement that he will create a film to expose pedophilia in Hollywood. Feldman has long been open about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child actor.

 

Editor’s Note: This post was updated on Monday, Oct. 30, 2016 and on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017 to reflect Netflix’s original announcement that its show House of Cards, starring Spacey, would end after season 6, the revelation that Netflix had already planned to end the series months ago, and the subsequent announcement that Netflix is suspending production on House of Cards season 6.