Anthony Rapp has been "gratified" to the response to the allegations of sexual misconduct he made against Kevin Spacey

She told Entertainment Tonight: "I've been very surprised by it all. I've been very gratified by the response I've gotten from so many people. I think all of this is an important step to dismantle the machinery that allowed this sort of thing to continue."

Anthony had previously claimed that the then-26-year-old star had picked him up, and lay on top of him while he was attending a party at the Hollywood star's home.

He recalled: "My memory was that I thought, 'Oh, everybody's gone. Well, yeah, I should probably go home.' [Spacey] sort of stood in the doorway, kind of swaying. My impression when he came in the room was that he was 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. I don't know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually."

Spacey previously released a statement where he insisted he did "not remember the encounter" but said he "owes him the sincerest apology".

He said: "I have a lot of respect and admiration for Anthony Rapp as an actor. I'm beyond horrified to hear his story. I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years."