Kevin Spacey Is Fighting Hard Against $31 Million Court Ruling
Kevin Spacey doesn't want to pay!
Kevin Spacey is hoping to convince a court to throw out an arbitration ruling stemming from misconduct allegations he faced on the set of House of Cards that has him on the hook for roughly $31 million. The actor was previously fired from his role as Frank Underwood on the hit Netflix original series after allegations came out that he had allegedly sexually harassed or assaulted young men in the past. Soon after, it was reported that conduct allegedly extended to the set of House of Cards. Not long after that, Kevin Spacey was given the boot by Netflix.
According to Variety, the show’s producer, MRC, responded to the allegations by conducting an investigation into Kevin Spacey’s conduct on the set of the show that ultimately determined he had been guilty of misconduct. MRC terminated his acting and producing contracts. The dispute then went to arbitration as Kevin Spacey maintained his innocence. However, in 2020, the court ruled against him. As a result, he was on the hook for costing them millions in profits when he was cut out of the show’s final season and its episode order was reduced from 13 to eight.
Now, Kevin Spacey’s attorneys have filed paperwork denying that the was guilty of sexual harassment and merely participated in an on-set culture of “jokes” and “innuendo.” They disagreed with the findings of the investigation and are hoping a court will see their side and toss the $31 million claim out the window. However, in order to do so, Kevin Spacey will have to further deny the claims made by alleged victims, a posture that has not served him well in the past.
As People notes, Kevin Spacey first faced allegations of sexual misconduct in 2017 when Buzzfeed News reported that Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp had accused him of making advances at him when he was just 14. In response, the actor released a statement on Twitter announcing that he was publicly coming out as a gay man. However, LGBTQ+ actors and GLAAD noted at the time that he was seemingly using coming out as a way to deflect allegations that he attempted to sexually abuse a minor.
Not long after, Kevin Spacey was accused by three more people of sexual misconduct, all of which he denied. In addition, allegations of his behavior on the set of House of Cards led Netflix to take swift action and kill off his character ahead of the final season. As a result, Frank Underwood’s wife, Claire Underwood (played by the incomparable Robin Wright) took the helm as the show’s lead character and narrator to put an odd bookend on the story of the Underwood presidency.
Since the first allegations came out, Kevin Spacey’s career has been in a bit of a free fall. Not only did he lose his most popular role at the time, but he has also struggled to find work. Instead, he suffered a swift and immense backlash about his past misconduct. That’s why it was so puzzling when he started reprising the Frank Underwood character in a series of bizarre videos released exclusively online.
