Actor Kevin Spacey must pay House of Cards producer MRC nearly $31 million (£23m) after breaching his contract by violating the company's sexual harassment policy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The entertainment outlet - which is co-owned by MRC through a joint venture with Penske Media titled PMRC - reports how an arbitrator has ruled that Spacey must now cough up after a 'two-year legal battle behind closed doors'.
It said MRC had filed papers in Los Angeles Superior Court earlier today (Monday 22 November) seeking to confirm the arbitration award.
The petition states: "With one exception, the Arbitrator found the third party witnesses to be credible, and found the allegations against Spacey to be true.
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"The Arbitrator found that Spacey's conduct constituted a material breach of his acting and executive producing agreements with MRC, and that his breaches excused MRC's obligations to pay him any further compensation in connection with the show."
It says that Spacey's 'egregious breaches of contract' made the star and his companies liable for MRC's extra costs amounting to tens of millions.
MRC said in a statement after the filing: "The safety of our employees, sets and work environments is of paramount importance to MRC and why we set out to push for accountability."
Michael Kump, partner of attorneys Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert, added: "MRC stood its ground, pursued this case doggedly, and obtained the right result in the end."
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Spacey previously played Frank Underwood on the long-running political series, but was cut from the show after allegations of sexually preying on young male staffers.
MRC launched an investigation and eventually terminated his acting and producing contracts, before the dispute went to the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS), where both sides pursued claims against each other.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the latest filing states that, on 19 October, the arbitrator concluded that Spacey repeatedly breached his contractual obligations to provide services 'in a professional manner' and 'consistent with [MRC's] reasonable directions, practices and policies', including anti-harassment policies.
The JAMS arbitrator said MRC had suffered from Spacey's behaviour, as it had to half the sixth series of House of Cards, rewrite it and shorten the season to eight episodes to meet its deadline.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy/NetflixTopics: Entertainment, TV and Film