Kevin Spacey claims publicist convinced him to apologise to Anthony Rapp

Kevin Spacey has claimed that his publicist convinced him to apologise to Anthony Rapp in 2017.

During his testimony in a New York City courtroom on Monday, the House of Cards star alleged that his publicist convinced him to publicly apologise to Rapp in 2017 after the Star Trek: Discovery actor accused Spacey of sexual misconduct.

"I was being encouraged to apologise and I've learned a lesson, which is never apologise for something that you didn't do," he said in court, reports Variety. "I regret my entire statement."

He added that he "literally didn't know how to respond" to Rapp's BuzzFeed accusations and his publicist told him that "they're going to call you a victim-blamer" if he pushed back on them.

In 2017, Rapp accused Spacey of making sexual advances towards him in 1986, when he was 14 years old and Spacey was 26 years old. Rapp initially made his accusation in a BuzzFeed article, to which Spacey responded in a statement in which he came out as gay. He insisted that he had no memory of the incident but offered "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior".

Rapp is suing Spacey for $40 million (£35 million) in damages. Rapp testified last week that Spacey picked him up and pushed him on his bed, getting on top of him in a sexually aggressive way. Spacey denied the claims during his testimony on Monday.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan dismissed Rapp's claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress after the Rent star's team rested its case on Monday morning. Judge Kaplan allowed the battery claim to move forward.