After a protracted behind closed doors legal battle it was ruled that Kevin Spacey must pay House of Cards producer MRC nearly $31 million for sexual misconduct on the set the political series.
On Monday, MRC filed papers in LA Superior Court seeking to confirm the arbitration award.
According to THR (which is owned by MRC),
Spacey, who played Frank Underwood on House of Cards, was cut from the influential Netflix series upon explosive allegations of sexually preying upon young men. The accusations, which included groping of a production assistant, caused MRC to conduct an investigation and ultimately terminate his acting and producing contracts. The dispute then went to JAMS where both both sides pursued claims.
According to the latest filing, the arbitrator in an Oct. 19 decision concluded that Spacey repeatedly breached 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 also pointed to how MRC had suffered from Spacey’s conduct including having to halt the sixth season of House of Cards, rewrite the season, and shorten it from 13 to eight episodes to meet a delivery deadline. Spacey claimed being still entitled to money under his “pay or play” deal and argued that it was the decision by MRC and Netflix to cut him loose and not his conduct that had caused financial losses, but those contentions didn’t find favor in arbitration.
MRC in a statement following 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.
This is he latest blow as Spacey’s career has been in free fall he was accused of multiple instances of sexual assault. For that amount of money he could have bought Madonna’s old Miami mansion.
Kevin Spacey Must Pay $31M for Breaching ‘House of Cards’ Deal https://t.co/dSIH5bP87T
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) November 22, 2021
(via THR)
