Kevin Spacey has lost his appeal to overturn a $31 million arbitration award to the producers of the House of Cards TV show after a judge ordered him to pay the full amount on Wednesday.
The actor was originally ordered to pay the sum in November following allegations of sexual misconduct involving several young crew members working on the TV show.
Spacey, who played Frank Underwood, was kicked off the series during its sixth season after he was accused of “systematically preying upon, sexually harassing, and groping young men that he had worked with throughout his career on film, television, and theatre projects,” as stated in the original court filings from MCR.
Following MRC’s investigation into the allegations, in October 2020 an arbitrator awarded the company $29.5 million in damages and $1.5 million in costs and fees, and this amount was confirmed by LA Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana on Wednesday.
The production company has argued that Spacey had caused them to lose profits because of his misconduct which forced MRC to fire him from the show and trim the final season from 13 episodes to eight.
Spacey’s attorneys tried to throw out the arbitration award, arguing that the actor’s conduct amounted to nothing more than “sexual innuendos” and “innocent horseplay” and did not violate MRC’s sexual harassment policy.
The LA judge’s order comes as Spacey continues to face multiple lawsuits and investigations of sexual misconduct. Last month, the Oscar-winning actor appeared in a London court where he pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting three men between 2005 and 2013 in the UK.
While some of the cases against Spacey have already been dismissed, he continues to face a civil lawsuit by Anthony Rapp, who was the first to publicly accuse him of sexual assault back in 2017. Rapp claims he was assaulted by Spacey during a party in New York in 1986 when he was just 14 years old. The next hearing in the case is due to be held in New York in October 2022.