The US actor Kevin Spacey, who has fallen into disrepute for allegations of sexual assault, has to pay the producers of the hit series “House of Cards” more than 30 million dollars in damages.
A California judge dismissed the former Hollywood star’s appeal against a corresponding arbitration award on Thursday. The 63-year-old clearly violated contractual agreements, judge Mel Red Recana said in his 14-page judgment.
A mediator had awarded the production company MRC 31 million dollars (30.5 million euros) in 2020. MRC fired Spacey after allegations of sexual assault became known and then had to completely rewrite the sixth season of “House of Cards”. Spacey had played the leading role in the Netflix series for five seasons, the unscrupulous US politician Frank Underwood.
The production company subsequently argued that the actor, known for films such as ‘American Beauty’ and ‘The Usual Suspects’, violated regulations “that set standards for his behavior in the workplace”, including a company policy on the prevention of harassment.
The actor’s abrupt exit from the series also necessitated restructuring, which resulted in “significant losses” for MRC. The script was rewritten without the main character Underwood and the sixth and final season had to be shortened to eight episodes.
Several men had spoken to the two-time Oscar winner in 2017 during the
Most recently, Spacey appeared in court in London. The actor dismissed all allegations of sexual abuse of men in the UK at London’s Old Bailey Criminal Court in July. Spacey is accused of four assaults against three men in the UK between 2005 and 2013.
