Kevin Spacey’s Defense Team to Call Actor’s Brother, Rent Co-Star

Over the last two days, Manhattan federal court jurors have heard harrowing sexual allegations actor Anthony Rapp—and his witnesses—have made against Kevin Spacey.

Rapp, who is set to continue his testimony on Tuesday, paused several times as he told jurors about a 1986 incident where Spacey lifted him up “like a groom carrying a bride over the threshold” before climbing on top of him and pressing his groin on his hip. At the time, Rapp was 14 years old while Spacey was 26 or 27.

“I was this 14-year-old child and I had no desire to have any kind of this experience in my life,” Rapp testified.

The Rent actor’s testimony, as well as several corroborating witnesses and another Spacey accuser who claims the actor groped him in 1981, are the crux of his $40 million lawsuit against Spacey in Manhattan. In the civil case, which is set to take two weeks, jurors will be tasked with deciding whether Spacey is liable for Rapp’s claims of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress after the American Beauty actor allegedly assaulted Rapp at a Manhattan party almost four decades ago.

But while Rapp’s case centers around the actor’s allegations—and those who were in his life afterward with whom he shared his story—Spacey’s case will attempt to systematically break down everything the Dazed and Confused actor’s legal team presented to the jury.

To do so, Spacey’s team is expected to call an array of individuals on the stand, from a former Rent co-star to several other actors, to Rapp’s own playwright brother. While Spacey’s team has yet to disclose what these cast of characters will bring to their case—or even if they are testifying willingly or under subpoena—it is clear that these witnesses will somehow fit in their argument that Rapp’s allegations are merely “a story.”

Here are the witnesses expected to be called by Spacey’s team this week:

John Barrowman

The actor best known for his role in Doctor Who and Torchwood will be crucial in Spacey’s defense against Rapp’s allegations—since he was with the pair the night they first allegedly hung out. According to Rapp’s testimony, he and Barrowman had grown up together in a Chicago suburb and were “theater friends” but not particularly close. In 1986, Barrowman went to visit Rapp while the teenager was performing in the Broadway play Precious Sons.

During the trip, the two teenagers went to see Spacey perform in Long Day's Journey into Night, and afterward, the actor invited them to dinner—and then a nightclub.

According to Rapp, he and Barrowman went back to his apartment on the Upper East Side afterward. But according to Barrowman and Spacey, the trio returned to the actor’s apartment. Spacey’s lawyers said during opening arguments that Barrowman’s testimony will vastly differ from Rapp’s recollection of the 1986 outing. Barrowman is expected to say he and Spacey were flirting that night, not Rapp. Barrowman has also notably been accused of exposing himself during a 2008 interview.

Adam Rapp

The older brother of Anthony Rapp, the 57-year-old playwright, and producer, is expected to be called by Spacey’s team, though it is not immediately known what he will be asked. The elder Rapp is best known for the film Winter Passing and his Pulitzer Prize finalist play, Red Light Winter. The Rapps, along with their eldest sister, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with their single mother, Mary. On the stand, Rapp described his mother, a nurse, as a “very devoted” mother who always engaged with the three children.

Evan Lowenstein

As Spacey’s manager, Lowenstein’s expected time on the stand may be the most crucial in the actor’s argument against any wrongdoing. The 44-year-old—who used to be part of the boy band “Evan and Jaron” with his twin brother—has been in court every day thus far, often sitting right behind Spacey while the jurors are in the room and speaking to the actor privately during court breaks. It is not immediately clear what Lowenstein will testify about during the civil trial. Still, Spacey’s lawyers have revealed in court that Lowenstein has been acting as an “investigator” in their case and is “essential” as they move forward to presenting to the jury.

After replacing Spacey’s long-time manager in 2016, Lowenstein was also supposed to testify in the actor’s criminal case in Nantucket, where a teenager—the son of local TV anchor Heather Unruh—alleged he was sexually assaulted. In 2019, the Nantucket charges were dropped after Unruh’s son refused to testify about a missing cellphone the defense was seeking and his mother admitted to deleting videos of the teenager smoking a bong from his phone before handing it over to authorities.

Tracie Thoms

Spacey’s attorneys have not given any indication of their methodology behind putting actress Thacie Thoms on their witness list. The 47-year-old Emmy-nominated actress is best known for her role in the film Rent—alongside Rapp—and her stint on Cold Case. The last time Rapp and Thoms were publicly spotted together was last year, during the 25th anniversary of Rent.

Kathe Green

The 78-year-old actress, model, and singer is another surprising name on Spacey’s witness list. The daughter of Bunny Waters and composer Johnny Green, it is not immediately clear what Green will add to Spacey’s case—especially since she has not acted or been a part of a production in decades.

Adam Vary

Adam Vary is poised to have a contentious time on the stand as the journalist who penned the 2017 BuzzFeed article where Rapp first detailed his allegations against Spacey. The actor’s legal team has previously noted that although Vary is a friend of Rapp’s, he did not disclose their relationship in the article. Prior to the trial, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled that Spacey’s lawyers cannot ask Vary about his news-gathering process while reporting Rapp’s allegations. The defense lawyers, however, can ask Vary about emails and text messages he had with Rapp before and after the article was published that are not related to his reporting. Vary is currently a senior entertainment writer at Variety after a seven-year stint at Buzzfeed.

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