Kevin Spacey’s attempt to avoid having to pay “House of Cards” production company, MRC, tens of millions of dollars following alleged sexual misconduct on the set has failed.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana upheld an earlier decision that found the 63-year-old actor had constituted a material breach of his agreements as an actor and executive producer on the show when accusations surfaced of his alleged sexual misconduct behind the scenes, Variety reported in a piece published Thursday.
The original decision was handed down by an arbitrator in October 2020, which ordered the “American Beauty” star to pay the production company nearly $31 million in damages for violating the company’s sexual harassment policy, as The Daily Wire previously reported. The total award breaks down to $29.5 million in damages and another $1.5 million in costs and fees, Variety noted.
A judge has ordered Kevin Spacey to pay “House of Cards” production company MRC nearly $31 million for alleged sexual misconduct behind the scenes of the Netflix White House drama.https://t.co/XecV6qsFQ7 pic.twitter.com/B0k32oPvDh
— Variety (@Variety) August 4, 2022
Earlier this year, attorneys for the actor argued that Spacey hadn’t violated MRC’s anti-harassment policy and claimed the alleged sexual misconduct amounted to little more than “sexual innuendos” and “innocent horseplay.”
MRC argued the accusations forced them to kill off his character for the final season and cut the series from 13 episodes down to eight. On the White House drama, Spacey shared the lead role with actress Robin Wright from 2013-2018.
In November 2017, the actor was fired from the hit Netflix series following a string of sexual assault and misconduct allegations. One such accusation came from “Star Trek” star Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him at a party in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Spacey denies the allegations.
In May 2022, Spacey was charged with sexually assaulting three men in the United Kingdom, per Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, as The Daily Wire reported.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, announced in a press release that, in addition to four counts of sexual assault, “The Usual Suspects” star is facing “one charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The authority to charge follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation.”
Spacey has since pleaded “not guilty” on all counts, as previously reported.
Source: Dailywire
