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A Los Angeles judge ordered Kevin Spacey to pay around $31 million to production company MRC for alleged sexual misconduct by the actor against one of the producers of House of Cards.
Following a series of sexual abuse allegations against Spacey, who starred in House of Cards, MRC fired the actor during the production of the sixth season and launched an internal investigation into possible inappropriate behavior on set.
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
The accusations against Spacey included allegations from a young production assistant on the series, who said the actor groped him during filming.
The company argued that the actor’s firing caused an unexpected reshuffling of the series’ sixth season, whose original script was rewritten, and its length cut from 13 to 8 episodes to meet Netflix’s schedule, resulting in several million in losses.
In a ruling in favor of the production company, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana concluded that Spacey’s conduct amounted to a material breach of his contract and executive production agreements. As a result, Spacey must $29.5 million in damages and $1.5 million in costs and fees.
The amount had been awarded in an arbitration award in 2020, but Spacey’s legal team appealed the decision in early 2022 arguing that his behavior constituted “sexual innuendo” and “innocent horseplay,” and did not violate MRC’s anti-harassment policy.
The allegations against Spacey began with the statement of actor Anthony Rapp, who wrote an article for Buzzfeed in 2017 alleging that the Frank Underwood performer had attempted to molest him in 1986, when he was just 14 years old.
Rapp’s statement triggered a series of accusations and, amid the uproar, CNN published a story compiling testimonials from House Of Cards staff accusing Spacey of creating a “toxic” environment, making crude comments, and touching young male staff members without their consent.
Following an avalanche of similar comments, an arbitration court collected videotaped deposition testimony and determined that Spacey violated MRC’s sexual harassment policy with respect to five House of Cards crew members.
Following a year-long review of files by the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Spacey was charged in May with four counts of sexual assault and one count of “making a person engage in sexual activity with penetration without consent,” incidents that allegedly took place in London and Gloucestershire between 2005 and 2013.
Tomás Lugo, journalist and writer. Born in Venezuela and graduated in Social Communication. Has written for international media outlets. Currently living in Colombia // Tomás Lugo, periodista y articulista. Nacido en Venezuela y graduado en Comunicación Social. Ha escrito para medios internacionales. Actualmente reside en Colombia.