Kevin Spacey’s attempt to have a $31 million (£25.5 million) arbitration award to the creators of House of Cards reversed was unsuccessful.
As a result of “explosive” allegations of sexual misbehavior involving teenage staff members working on the production, the Hollywood actor was forced to pay the amount to MCR in November.
According to records obtained by the PA Media news agency, Spacey had filed to have the order overturned, but a US judge in Los Angeles on Thursday rejected his request.
Spacey and his lawyers “fail to demonstrate that this is even a close case,” according to Judge Mel Red Recana, and “do not demonstrate that the damages decision was so absolutely unreasonable that it amounts to an arbitrary rewriting of the parties’ contracts.”
After the decision, MRC’s lawyer, Michael Kump, said: “We are happy with the court’s decision.”
Spacey was accused of “systematically preying upon, sexually assaulting, and groping young men that he had worked with throughout his career on cinema, television, and theatre enterprises,” according to the original files from MCR, which described how he was fired from the popular Netflix series.
The arbitrator found that Spacey had consistently disregarded his contractual obligations to carry out his work “in a professional way” and in accordance with [MRC’s] reasonable instructions, practices, and policies,” particularly those relating to harassment.
The actor played the cunning politician Frank Underwood for five seasons of House of Cards before being fired from the series after the claims came to light.
The arbitrator initially determined that Spacey was not entitled to compensation for the remaining time on his contract because his firing had resulted in the sixth season of the show being cut short and rewritten, which cost MRC millions in lost income.
The most recent development occurs just after Spacey testified last month in a UK court to “strenuously” refute new allegations of sexual assault that date back 17 years.
On July 14, he appeared before the Old Bailey in London and refuted five accusations against three men, who are now in their 30s and 40s. The alleged crimes are reported to have occurred between 2005 and 2013, while Spacey served as creative director of the Old Vic theatre, in London and Gloucestershire.
Mr. Justice Wall scheduled a three- to four-week trial beginning on June 6 of this year, with an additional hearing scheduled for earlier in 2023.
Additionally, the actor Anthony Rapp, who was Spacey’s first known accuser, will be bringing legal action against him that will be tried in New York in October 2022.
