CNN
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Kevin Spacey will have to pay nearly $31 million to Media Rights Capital, the production company behind “House of Cards”, a judge has ruled. The actor starred in the Netflix series for five seasons before being fired in 2017.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana issued the decision earlier this week, affirming an award that was made by an arbitrator last year. CNN obtained the court documents.
Spacey and MRC have been battling since the actor was fired from the production over alleged misconduct on and off set.
Spacey starred as Frank Underwood on the Emmy-winning show, and MRC says having to cut him out of the show’s sixth season cost them millions of dollars and “made him (and his entities affiliates) responsible”.
Spacey was fired from the TV show the day after CNN published its 2017 report, in which several current and former members of the “House of Cards” production team made allegations of sexual harassment. One person also accused Spacey, who served as an executive producer on the show, of sexual assault.
Shortly before CNN’s report, actor Anthony Rapp told BuzzFeed News that the actor made a sexual advance on him at a party in 1986 when he was 14. MRC says it halted production “to address concerns from the show’s cast and crew” following the allegations, according to a 2021 filing and previously reported by CNN.
Following Rapp’s claims, Spacey released a statement saying he had no recollection of the incident and apologized for what he said was “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior”.
The Oscar-winning actor will face a criminal trial in London next year after being accused of sexually assaulting three men between 2005 and 2013. Spacey pleaded not guilty in July.
CNN has reached out to Spacey’s attorneys for comment.