Spacey was fired from the present in 2017 amid a number of allegations of sexual misconduct. He’s additionally going through felony fees of sexual assault in London.
LOS ANGELES — A decide on Thursday dominated that Kevin Spacey and his manufacturing firms should pay the makers of “Home of Playing cards” almost $31 million due to losses introduced on by his 2017 firing for the sexual harassment of crew members.
The ruling from Los Angeles Superior Court docket Choose Mel Crimson Recana provides the drive of legislation to the $30.9 award in favor of MRC and different firms that produced the Netflix sequence by a personal arbitrator who heard the case towards Spacey.
Recana wrote that Spacey and his attorneys “fail to display that that is even a detailed case” and “don’t display that the damages award was so completely irrational that it quantities to an arbitrary remaking of the events’ contracts.”
“We’re happy with the courtroom’s ruling,” MRC legal professional Michael Kump mentioned in an e mail to The Related Press.
Spacey has denied the allegations by his attorneys and his spokesperson, who didn’t instantly reply to emails in search of remark.
The arbitrator discovered that Spacey violated his contract’s calls for for skilled conduct by “participating sure conduct in reference to a number of crew members in every of the 5 seasons that he starred in and government produced Home of Playing cards,” in response to a submitting from Kump requesting the approval.
Because of this, MRC needed to hearth Spacey, halt manufacturing of the present’s sixth season, rewrite it to take away Spacey’s central character, and shorten it from 13 to eight episodes to fulfill deadlines, leading to tens of thousands and thousands in losses, in response to courtroom paperwork.
Spacey’s attorneys argued in their very own filings that the choice to exclude him from the present’s sixth season got here earlier than the interior investigation that led the crew members to come back ahead, and thus was not a part of a contract breach. They argued that the actor’s actions weren’t a considerable issue within the present’s losses.
The ruling from the personal arbitrator got here after a authorized battle of greater than three years and an eight-day evidentiary listening to that was saved secret from the general public, together with the remainder of the dispute, till a panel of three extra personal arbitrators rejected Spacey’s enchantment and upheld the choice in November.
The 63-year-old Oscar winner’s profession got here to an abrupt halt late in 2017 because the #MeToo motion gained momentum and allegations towards him emerged from a number of locations.
Spacey was fired or faraway from initiatives, most notably “Home of Playing cards,” the Netflix political thriller the place for 5 seasons he performed lead character Frank Underwood, a power-hungry congressman who turns into president.
Final month, Spacey pleaded not responsible in London to fees of sexually assaulting three males a decade or extra in the past, when he was director of the Outdated Vic theater there. His lawyer mentioned he “strenuously denies” the allegations. He’s set to face trial subsequent yr.
One other felony case introduced towards him, an indecent assault and battery cost stemming from the alleged groping of an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket resort, was dismissed by Massachusetts prosecutors in 2019.
Spacey additionally faces lawsuits from different males, together with actor Anthony Rapp.
