An intermediary asked Kevin Spacey to pay nearly $31 million (£23.2 million) to the studio showing Netflix’s House of Cards for breach of contract following allegations of sexual harassment against an American actor.
The personal decision was made last year but announced on Monday after the studio’s attorney, MRC, filed a lawsuit to validate the award. The actor has been charged with sexual assault since 2017.
He denies any wrongdoing.
Mr. Spacey, 62, has lost his leadership role as a dangerous and relatively restrained house of cards politician since he was accused of creating a “toxic” work environment on set, claiming to be abusive and touching comments to young people. Employees without their consent.
He was one of the 1st major Hollywood characters to be publicly accused of misconduct following the Harvey Weinstein scandal and while the #MeToo movement was gaining traction.
MRC and Netflix have fired Spacey from House of Cards and barred him from appearing on the show. As a result, the studio said it had lost millions of dollars because, according to arbitration documents, according to US media, it had begun work at the start of the next season.
MRC filed a lawsuit in January 2019 seeking a refund, alleging that Mr. Spacey violated the studio’s sexual harassment guidelines. Variety reported that lawyers on both sides heard more than 20 people in an eight-day secret arbitration hearing in February 2020.
He added that the 46-page decision, which was made five months later, would remain confidential.
However, a petition from MRC to the Los Angeles Supreme Court on Monday confirmed the decision was in favor of the studio. As a result, Mr. Spacey and his production companies, M Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions, have been sentenced to pay legal damages.
He appealed the decision but was rejected that month. Lawyer Mr. Spacey declined to speak to US media. allegations of sexual harassment against Mr. Spacey began in October 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp admitted to having had sexual adventures with him when Mr. Rapper was 14 years old.
Mr. Spacey made a statement saying he had no recollection of the meeting, but he owed Mr. Rapp his “most sincere apologies for his grossly inappropriate drunken behavior.”
In a statement, Mr. Spacey also announced that he would now live as a gay man. However, he has been criticized for attributing his apology for alleged predatory behavior to his homosexuality.