Actor Kevin Spacey breached his contract with the company that produced the Netflix series "House of Cards," MRC, an arbiter has ruled.
MRC was awarded nearly $31 million — $29.5 million in damages and $1.4 million in attorneys’ fees and costs.
“The safety of our employees, sets and work environments is of paramount importance to MRC and why we set out to push for accountability," MRC said in a statement.
Spacey was fired from the show in 2017 following multiple sexual assault and misconduct allegations against him.
Attorneys for Spacey did not immediately return a request for comment.
In MRC’s petition to confirm the arbitration award, it stated that once it became aware of the allegations against Spacey it suspended him. After an investigation, he was terminated. The documents state that Spacey breached "provisions of both the Acting and Executive Producing Agreements that set standards for his workplace conduct, including by breaching MRC’s Harassment Policy.”
The ruling was made in October 2020, and Spacey's appeal was denied earlier this month. The ruling became public on Monday when MRC moved to have the ruling confirmed in a Los Angeles court, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Spacey, who was an executive producer of the show, had already begun filming season six of "House of Cards" when he was fired. The episodes had to be trashed as the show re-wrote the season.
MRC filed the complaint against Spacey in 2019. The actor has had multiple sexual assault and misconduct allegations brought forth against him beginning in late 2017.
That year, Spacey was accused by Broadway veteran Anthony Rapp and Mexican actor Roberto Cavazos of inappropriate sexual behavior. In an article published by Buzzfeed News, Rapp wrote that Spacey laid on top of him in 1986 when he was 14 years old in an incident Rapp characterized as a sexual advance. Spacey said in a statement at the time that he didn’t remember the alleged incident but was “beyond horrified” and apologized.
In 2018, Spacey was charged with indecent assault in Nantucket Island, Mass. in an incident involving a teenage boy, Variety reported. Spacey pleaded not guilty, and the charge was later dropped when the alleged victim withdrew their civil lawsuit.
