LOS ANGELES: Kevin Spacey and his production companies will have to pay more than $30 million to the studio behind House of Cards because of damages caused by his firing for sexual misconduct, following an arbitration decision made last Monday. According.
In a document filed in Los Angeles Superior Court requesting approval of the judge’s ruling, the arbitrators found that Spacey had committed professional behavior by including certain conduct regarding several crew members in each of the five sessions. in breach of the demands of his contract for which he starred and executive produced House of Cards.
MRC, the studio behind House of Cards, had to fire Spacey, halt production for the show’s sixth season, rewrite it to remove Spacey’s central character, and reduce it to 13 to meet the deadline. shortened to eight episodes, resulting in the loss of millions, the document said.
The safety of our employees, set and work environment is of paramount importance to the MRC and why we set out to emphasize accountability, the MRC said in a statement on Monday.
A representative for Spacey did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. His lawyers argued that the actor’s action was not a significant factor in the loss of the show.
The ruling came after more than three years of legal battles and eight days of evidence hearings that, along with the rest of the controversy, were kept secret from the public.
Spacey appealed the decision of a panel of three more private arbitrators who found for the plaintiffs, making the decision final and public on Monday.
Plaintiff’s attorney, Michael Kump, said in a statement, “MRC has put forth its stand, pursued the case resolutely and in the end achieved the right outcome.
The 62-year-old Oscar winner’s career came to a sudden halt in late 2017 as the #MeToo movement gathered momentum.
Actor Anthony Rapp, who appeared in Rent on Broadway and in film as well as on television, Star Trek: Discovery, said Spacey had sex with her at the age of 14 at a party in the 1980s.
At the time, Spacey issued a statement saying he did not remember the encounter, but apologized.
Several other accused followed. Some, including Rapp, have filed a lawsuit.
An independent investigation found widespread sexual harassment of those working under him.
Spacey was fired or dropped from several 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.
A criminal case brought against him, an indecent assault and battery charge stemming from the alleged groping of an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket resort, was dismissed by Massachusetts prosecutors in 2019.
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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
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