Spacey ordered to pay £25.5m for losses over ‘House of Cards’ firing
KEVIN SPACEY must pay $31million (£25.5 million) to the producers of House of Cards over losses relating to allegations of sexual misconduct by the actor after losing an appeal over the sum.
Spacey had sought to overturn an arbitration order requiring him to pay MRC damages following “explosive” allegations involving young crew members that led to his firing from the popular Netflix show in 2017.
But Los Angeles Judge Mel Red Recana found that Spacey and his lawyers “fail to demonstrate that this is even a close case”, according to documents seen by the Press Association.
“We are pleased with the court’s ruling,” MCR’S attorney, Michael Kump, said after the ruling.
Spacey, 63, starred in House Of Cards for five seasons, playing the ruthless politician Frank Underwood, before the Oscar winner’s career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when several sexual misconduct allegations surfaced. He has denied them.
In its complaint, MRC said it had to fire Spacey, halt production of the show’s sixth season and rewrite it to remove Spacey’s central character following claims he “systematically” preyed upon and sexually harassed young male staff throughout his career.
MRC said it was forced to shorten its sixth season from 13 to eight episodes, resulting in tens of millions in losses, according to court documents.
An arbitration process determined that Spacey had repeatedly breached contractual obligations, including MRC’S anti-harassment policies.
The arbitrator also found that Spacey was not entitled to be paid for the remainder of his contract.