Kevin Spacey

 There's a new podcast coving Spacey, some of his history, and the charges against him. https://www.radio.net/podcast/the-kevin-spacey-trial-unfiltered

While I will never defend adults hitting on minors, and I recognize that everyone has their own responses to unwanted (or even wanted) sexual advances, I also have questions about Rapp suffering 40 million dollars worth of 'severe psychological trauma' from the sexual advance he claims Spacey made on him when Spacey was 26 and Rapp was 14. The event is described in the podcast several times in detail using trial and deposition transcripts, and including Rapp's own words.

I (female) certainly fended off unwanted advances from adults (both male and female adults) when I too was a poorly supervised/unsupervised minor and some of those advances were much more aggressive and problematic than what Rapp describes. Perhaps I just have something in me that made me more resilient or more resistant to damage from these advances than what Rapp has.... I'll stipulate that that could be the case....but if I got 40 million from each of the events I personally experienced, I could have bought Twitter.

After listening to the podcast, I also wonder if Rapp has today some faulty memory of his encounter with Spacey. I can relate to that too. I've had faulty memories about events from long ago and sometimes even recent events. A major reason I say this is due to Rapp's claim that he was in Spacey's bedroom (which had a door) when it has been proven that Spacey lived in a studio apartment without a bedroom or door at the time of the event. This was also confirmed by Rapp's friend who also went to Spacey's apartment with Rapp and Spacey on a different day.

Additionally, the claim made against Spacey by the 18 or 19 year-old from the Nantucket area also seems highly suspect and the case was dropped by the plaintiff when the facts came out in the courtroom. This too is covered in the podcast.

I also do wonder about no one coming to Spacey's defense. I also think this is part of the "Me Too" movement and today it is unacceptable for anyone to say "I know this person well and don't think they would have behaved that way."

After my sister committed suicide, her ex-husband told everyone that she killed herself because she was molested by our father (who could not defend himself since he had been long deceased by this time). Later, her ex-husband expanded on that story by telling everyone that my sister killed herself because she was molested by our father AND our brothers. Of course, my brothers flat-out deny this and I believe them for many reasons.

But hat can I say to that awful claim?

I asked my sister's ex-husband if she ever told him that. He said "no".

I told him that while I wasn't with my sister or my dad or my brothers every minute of every day and I cannot truly say it never happened, I can say that, to the best of my knowledge, incestuous relationships were not a part of our family growing up.

I also told my sister's ex-husband that I did not blame him for her death. 

But he was an enormous asshole who was harassing, stalking, and suing my sister and otherwise making her life miserable at the time she died. She regularly complained to me about all the stuff that he did to make her life difficult and complicated and I do think his actions played a role in her decision to commit suicide. I still don't think he's responsible for her death though. Lots of people fight, stalk, harass, and sue each other and the other person doesn't respond by ending their own life. So no, he was not responsible for that. How she acted/reacted is how she acted/reacted. But let me be clear: I do not think my sister's ex-husband was a totally innocent party either. He treated her very badly. She coped with that badly.

So Spacey may (or may not) have hit on Rapp.

Spacey says he doesn't remember the event that happened 30 to 35 years ago (I forget how long exactly). 

Rapp certainly appears to not remember the event clearly. 

Rapp may have had a severely adverse reaction to Spacey's advances. 

But to me, this just doesn't seem like it should be a life changing event for either man.

About the current case, I just can't say. The news available is curtailed due to local law and what little we do get seems incomplete. But looking at it in light of the two previous cases, I am concerned that it could be overblown and a "let's pile on Spacey" phenomenon.