Kevin Spacey was ordered to pay damages to House of Cards producer after he was removed from the show amid sexual misconduct allegations.
Kevin Spacey has been ordered to pay House of Cards’ production company MRC nearly USD 31 million for alleged sexual misconduct behind the scenes of the Netflix White House drama. The actor was kicked off the series during its sixth season after facing allegations that he had sexually assaulted young men, including a production assistant.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana confirmed an award previously handed down by an arbitrator in October 2020, which consisted of around USD 29.5 million in damages and USD 1.5 million in costs and fees. Although as per Variety, MRC argued that Spacey owed them millions as they lost profits because his misconduct forced them to remove him from the sixth season of the show, and it had to trim the season from 13 episodes to eight.
Spacey’s lawyers previously also tried to get rid of this case saying his behavior amounted to nothing more than “sexual innuendos” and “innocent horseplay” and did not violate MRC’s anti-harassment policy.
In the meantime, the actor is also fighting a case in th UK. Spacey was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent” by the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The actor has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is headed for a trial that begins in June 2023. Despite facing multiple charges, Spacey is still set to appear in an upcoming film that has been titled Peter Five Eight.
Source:pinkvilla.com