Kevin Spacey Ordered to Pay $31M to 'House of Cards' Production Company in Arbitration Case
Netflix/ David Giesbrecht
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MRC filed a confidential arbitration demand in January 2019 after Spacey was fired from the Netflix show over several sexual misconduct accusations from 'House of Cards' employees.

AceShowbiz - Kevin Spacey has been ordered to pay nearly $31 million to Media Rights Capital, the production company behind "House of Cards". An arbritator declared that the actor "repeatedly breached his contractual obligations" by violating the company's sexual harassment policy.

MRC filed a confidential arbitration demand in January 2019 after Spacey was fired from the Netflix show over several sexual misconduct accusations from "House of Cards" employees. The company was attempting to recover the money lost due to the abrupt course change which they were forced to make.

Spacey was hit with sexual misconduct allegations when they were in the early stages of production on the sixth and final season of the Netflix series. As his character, Frank Underwood, was axed, the two episodes which were already in the can were scrapped and the episode number were cut down from 13 to 8.

As for Spacey, he filed a counterclaim in which he accused the production company of wrongfully terminating his contract and violating the "pay or play" obligation in their agreement. However, an investigation, which included a confidential arbitration hearing which lasted eight days and saw depositions from over 20 people, the arbitrator decided that "Spacey’s egregious breaches of contract" made him liable for the financial hit to MRC that totaled tens of millions of dollars.

Spacey, alongside his companies M. Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions, are now required to pay $29.5 million in damages, with $1.2 million covering lawyers' fees and $235,000 in additional costs.

Following the decision, MRC said in a statement, "The safety of our employees, sets and work environments is of paramount importance to MRC and why we set out to push for accountability."

Spacey has been staying low profile amid the scandal. In May, it was reported that he will star in the Italian film "L'uomo Che Disegno Dio", marking his first role since sexual misconduct allegations. He will star opposite Vanessa Redgrave, wife of the film's director Franco Nero.

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