A judge ruled Thursday that Kevin Spacey and his production companies must pay “House of Cards” producers nearly $31 million in damages from a 2017 firing for sexual assault of crew members.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Ricana’s decision gave force of law a $30.9 award in favor of MRC and other companies that produced the Netflix series by a private arbitrator hearing the case against Spacey.
Recana wrote that Spacey and his lawyers “fail to demonstrate that this is even a close matter” and “do not demonstrate that the damages award was so irrational as to amount to arbitrary remaking of the parties’ contracts.”
“We are pleased with the court’s decision,” MRC attorney Michael Kump said in an email to the Associated Press.
Spacey has denied the allegations through his lawyers and his spokesman, who did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The arbitrator found that Spacey violated his contract’s demands for professional behavior, “by engaging in certain conduct in relation to several crew members in each of the five seasons in which he acted and the executive produced House of Cards.” built,” according to a filing from Kump requesting approval. ,
As a result, MRC had to close Spacey, halt production of the show’s sixth season, rewrite it to remove Spacey’s central character, and shorten it from 13 to eight episodes to meet the deadline. Diya, resulting in loss of lakhs as per court documents. ,
Spacey’s lawyers argued in their own filing that the decision to exclude him from the show’s sixth season came before an internal investigation that led to the crew members coming forward, and thus was not part of a breach of contract. He argued that the actor’s action was not a significant factor in the loss of the show.
The private arbitrator’s decision came after more than three years of legal battles and eight days of evidence hearings, which, along with the rest of the disputes, were kept secret from the public until a panel of three more private arbitrators dismissed Spacey’s appeal. Didn’t. and upheld the decision in November.
The 63-year-old Oscar winner’s career came to an abrupt halt in late 2017 as the #MeToo movement gathered momentum and allegations against him surfaced from multiple places.
Spacey was fired or dropped from projects, most notably “House of Cards”, the Netflix political thriller where for five seasons he played the main character Frank Underwood, the power-hungry congressman who became president.
last month, Spacey pleads guilty in London Accused of sexually assaulting three men a decade or more ago, when he was the director of the Old Vic Theatre. His lawyer said he “strongly denies” the allegations. He is set to face trial next year.
“It seems like Kevin Spacey thinks this country has the potential to still rehabilitate himself. So, I think the strategy is to come here, face the music, and see if that saves his career.” Maybe,” Danny Rogers, editor in chief of PRweek UK, told CBS News in June. “They should realize that the brand ‘Kevin Spacey’ is at a loss after all the allegations over the past five or 10 years. So, if there is damage, there is still some progress to be made by fighting the new allegations.”
Another criminal case brought against him was an indecent assault and battery charge stemming from the alleged groping of an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket resort. dismiss by Massachusetts prosecutors in 2019.
Spacey also faces lawsuits from other men, including the actor anthony rap.
