A judge has ordered fallen Hollywood star Kevin Spacey to pay $31 million in damages to the producers of “House of Cards” over allegations he committed acts of sexual misconduct on the hit TV show’s set.
Spacey has been desperately trying to avoid paying out tens of millions of dollars to the show’s production company, MRC.
However, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana upheld an earlier decision and ordered Spacey to cough up.
The court found that the 63-year-old actor had constituted a material breach of his agreements as an actor and executive producer on the show.
When accusations surfaced of his alleged sexual misconduct behind the scenes, Spacey was in breach of his contract, Variety reported Thursday.
The original decision was handed down by an arbitrator in October 2020, which ordered Spacy to pay the production company nearly $31 million in damages for violating the company’s sexual harassment policy.
The total breaks down to $29.5 million in damages awarded to MRC plus another $1.5 million in costs and fees, Variety notes.
Earlier this year, Spacey’s attorneys argued that the actor hadn’t violated MRC’s anti-harassment policy.
They claimed that the alleged sexual misconduct amounted to little more than “sexual innuendos” and “innocent horseplay.”
However, MRC argued that the accusations forced producers to kill off Spacey’s character for the final season of “House of Cards” and cut the series from 13 episodes down to eight.
In the White House drama, Spacey shared the lead role with actress Robin Wright from 2013-2018.
They played Francis and Claire Underwood, a ruthless political couple loosely based on Bill and Hillary Clinton, whom Spacey has a long-term friendship with.
In November 2017, Spacey was fired from the hit Netflix series following a string of sexual assault and misconduct allegations.
One such accusation came from “Star Trek” star Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him at a party in 1986.
At the time of the alleged incident, when Rapp was just 14 years old.
Spacey denies the allegations.
In May 2022, Spacey was charged with sexually assaulting three men in the United Kingdom, per Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, as Slay News reported.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, announced in a press release that, in addition to four counts of sexual assault, “The Usual Suspects” star is facing “one charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
“The authority to charge follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation.”
Spacey has since pleaded “not guilty” on all counts.
