On Thursday, a judge ruled that Kevin Spacey and his production company must pay the makers of “House of Cards” nearly $31 million for his dismissal in 2017 for sexually harassing cast members. loss.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana’s ruling gives $30.9 in legal force to MRC and the other companies making the Netflix series, which were heard by a private arbitrator against Speyer. West’s case.
Recana wrote that Spacey and his attorneys “failed to demonstrate that this was even a closed case” and “did not demonstrate that the damages award was so completely unreasonable that it amounted to an arbitrary re-enactment of the parties’ contracts. “
“We are satisfied with the court’s decision,” MRC attorney Michael Kump said in an email to The Associated Press.
Spacey denied the allegations through his attorney and spokesman, who did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
According to documents requested by Kump for approval, the arbitrators found that Spacey violated the professional conduct requirements of his contract “by working with several Persons engaged in certain actions”. .
As a result, MRC had to fire Spacey, halt production on the show’s sixth season, rewrite it to remove Spacey’s central character, and shorten it from 13 episodes to 8 to meet the deadline, costing tens of millions dollars in damages, according to court documents.
Spacey’s attorneys argued in their own filings that the decision to exclude him from the show’s sixth season was made prior to the internal investigation that led to cast members coming forward, and therefore not a breach of contract. They argue that the actor’s behavior was not a significant factor in the show’s failure.
The private arbitrator’s ruling came after more than three years of legal battles and eight days of evidentiary hearings and upheld the decision in November.
The 63-year-old Oscar winner’s career came to an abrupt end in late 2017 as the #MeToo movement gained momentum and multiple allegations surfaced against him.
Spacey was fired or dropped out of projects, most famously in the Netflix political thriller “House of Cards,” where he starred for five seasons as Frank Underwood, a power-hungry congressman who went on to become president.
last month, Spacey pleads not guilty in London A decade or more ago, he was accused of sexually assaulting three men while he was the director of the Old Vic Theatre there. His lawyer said he “vigorously denies” the allegations. He will face trial next year.
“It sounds like Kevin Spacey thinks there’s still a chance to recover himself in this country. So, I think the strategy is to come here, face the music, and see if he can save his career,” editor Danny Rogers ( Danny Rogers, the head of PRWeek UK, told CBS News in June. “After all the allegations in the past 5 or 10 years, he must feel that the ‘brand Kevin Spacey’ is being damaged. So if the damage has been done, there is still some progress in fighting the new allegations.”
Another criminal case against him is an indecent assault and battery charge for allegedly groping an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket resort. fired Proposed by Massachusetts Attorneys in 2019.
Spacey also faces lawsuits from other men, including actors Anthony Rapp.
