Kevin Spacey has been ordered to pay nearly $31 million (AUD $44.5m or £24m) to a House of Cards producer for breaching his contract over alleged sexual misconduct.
Collider reports that the American Beauty actor must pay the money to his House of Cards producer, MRC, for sexual misconduct behind the scenes of the renowned Netflix drama.
Spacey, who played the lead role of Frank Underwood, was terminated after he allegedly sexually harassed young crew members, including groping a production assistant.
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In October 2020, MRC filed a lawsuit against the 63-year-old actor claiming Spacey had lost the company millions as they were forced to remove him from season six and trim episodes from 13 to eight, as per Variety.
A month later, following eight days of live testimony and 20 hours of video depositions, an arbitrator ruled in favour of MRC.
MRC was awarded $29.5 million (AUD $42m or £24m) in damages and $1.5 million (AUD $4m or £1.2m) in costs and fees.
However, Spacey and his lawyers attempted to overturn the $31 million award, claiming that he did not breach his contract.
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He tried to claim the allegations were founded on ‘sexual innuendo’ and ‘innocent horse play’.
But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana was having none of it and confirmed in a 14-page ruling that the previous $31 million award still stands.
Just for a little extra zing, Judge Recana added: “Here, [Spacey] fails to demonstrate that this is even a close case.”
The Baby Driver actor was first accused of sexual harassment in October 2017, when actor Anthony Rapp said he climbed onto him, pushed him onto a bed and made sexual advances, as per Rolling Stone.
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At the time, Rapp was only 14, and Spacey was 26.
Since then, multiple men have come forward alleging the actor sexually harassed them too.
Subsequently, Spacey's career has taken a dive as he’s been fired from numerous projects following the allegations in the wake of the MeToo movement.
The Guardian reports the film All The Money in the World was forced to reshoot all of Spacey’s scenes just two months before it was meant to be released, despite being completely finished.
The studio replaced Spacey with Christopher Plummer.
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Plummer’s scenes were shot in eight days, one month before its Christmas release.
Topics: TV and Film, Crime, Kevin Spacey, Celebrity
Charisa Bossinakis