An arbitrator has ruled on the dispute between Kevin Spacey and the production house of House of Cards, MRC. The actor will have to pay 29.5 million in damages and 1.4 million in legal fees.
It’s the Wall Street Journal who first reported this information on Monday, picked up by all American media. But the regulation, which has just been made public, would have occurred in October 2020.
Kevin Spacey was kicked out of House of Cards due to allegations of sexual misconduct in 2017. The arbitrator concluded that the actor broke his contractual obligations to MRC by acting unprofessionally and by not respecting its internal policies, including with regard to sexual harassment.
The arbitrator adds that Kevin Spacey’s conduct has had an impact on MRC: two episodes of the sixth season were already filmed, and almost everything was written when the first allegations came to light. It was therefore necessary to rewrite and shoot a sixth season without his character of Frank Underwood, with Robin Wright at the head of the bill, while respecting the very tight deadlines, which would have caused “tens of millions” in additional costs.
“The safety of our employees and our work environments is of paramount importance to MRC, and that is why we have been held accountable,” the company said.