A judge has ruled Kevin Spacey and his production companies must pay the producers of hit TV show House of Cards nearly $US31 million because of losses brought on by his 2017 firing for the sexual harassment of crew members.
Key points:
A private arbitrator awarded $US30.9 million to companies that produced House of Cards last year
A Superior Court judge has now approved the ruling, writing that Spacey’s attorneys failed to show the payout was “irrational”
The arbitrator found Spacey had violated his contract through engaging in unprofessional behavior with crew
The ruling gives the force of law to a private arbitrator’s decision to award $US30.9 million ($44.3 million) in favor of production company MRC and others.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana wrote that Spacey and his attorneys “fail to demonstrate that this is even a close case” and “do not demonstrate that the damages award was so utterly irrational that it amounts to an arbitrary remaking of the parties’ contracts.”
“We are pleased with the court’s ruling,” MRC attorney Michael Kump said in an email to The Associated Press.
Spacey has denied the allegations through his attorneys and his spokesperson, who did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
The arbitrator found that Spacey violated his contract’s demands for professional behavior by “engaging certain conduct in connection with several crew members in each of the five seasons that he starred in and executive produced House of Cards,” according to a filing from Mr Kump.
