AMERICAN actor Kevin Spacey will have to fork out over $30 million to the production company that made the hit TV series House of Cards due to his abrupt exit from the show, court documents have revealed.
The Usual Suspects star was fired over sexual harassment claims made against him in the wake of the #MeToo movement ignited by the torrent of abuse allegations against film producer and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein.
MRC, the production company that made the popular Machiavellian politics drama on Netflix, said the allegations had caused significant financial damage to the show.
Court documents showed that after the allegations became known, MRC suspended Mr Spacey pending the outcome of an investigation, which found the actor had "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 RTE reports.
An arbitration judge ruled in favour of the motion filed by MRC in a Los Angeles Superior court – meaning the US actor will have to pay $31 million (£23.2 million) for breaching his contract.
A statement by the plaintiff’s attorney Michael Kump read: “MRC stood its ground, pursued this case doggedly, and obtained the right result in the end”.
Following Mr Spacey’s departure, production had to be halted and the series had to be shortened from 13 to eight episodes to meet new deadlines, according to ITV.
This resulted in tens of millions in losses, the document said.
According to Variety, the court heard from more than 20 people over the course of an eight-day confidential arbitration hearing in February 2020.
Following the verdict, Mr Spacey and his production companies, M Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions, were ordered to pay damages, the lawyers’ fees of all parties, and court costs.
Mr Spacey’s appeal against the decision was denied this month and his lawyer declined to comment to US-based media, according to the BBC.
