Kevin Spacey ordered to pay 'House of Cards' producer $31 million in damages

The Los Angeles Superior Court sentences actor Kevin Spacey to compensate the production company of House of Cards. It considers that his unprofessional attitude was a breach of contract, for which he must pay 31 million dollars to MCR, the production company responsible for the series. According to the sentence, the compensation responds to the damages derived from his behavior, since he was accused of sexual harassment by a production assistant.

The fine was imposed a year ago, but the actor had appealed the measure. His lawyers tried to prove that the behavioral policies had not been breached in the filming, since they claimed that there were only insinuations. However, the court held that they had failed to prove that this was the case and upheld the fine.

The production company MCR claims that Kevin Spacey's departure from the series caused a loss of millions of dollars (since they had to re-record the footage, and shorten the episodes of the last season, which went from 13 to 8). However, it was the production company itself that made the decision to eliminate the role of the protagonist of House of Cards, despite the fact that there was no conviction against Spacey. Those responsible for the series said they did not want to be involved in the scandals about the alleged harassment committed by Spacey.

Kevin Spacey Harassment Allegations

Since 2017, Kevin Spacey has been receiving harassment complaints that have caused a huge decline in his popularity. The first of these was filed by fellow actor Anthony Rapp, who alleged that Spacey had made a sexual advance on him when he was just 14 years old (in 1986). That same year, CNN published a report in which he was accused of creating a toxic environment on the film set in which rude behavior abounded. The production company immediately stopped the series House of Cards after learning of these facts. Subsequently, two more harassment cases were filed in the United States in 2019 (which did not progress in court).

In the United Kingdom, he is also on trial for five other allegations. Last month, in London, Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty to the offenses with which he was charged. The facts date back to the time when he was artistic director of the prestigious Old Vic theater (between 2005 and 2013). The complainants (three of them men) are between 30 and 40 years old. The process will drag on until 2023, as the trial is expected to begin in June.