Kevin Spacey Ordered to Pay $31 Million to ‘House of Cards’ Makers

It’s been five years since Kevin Spacey was cut from Netflix’s House of Cards due to allegations of sexually predatory behavior. A judge ruled Thursday (Aug. 4) that he owes nearly $31 million to the show’s creators for the loss of profits that resulted from his firing, per documents obtained by EW.

Allegations against Spacey, who played the protagonist in House of Cards, first came in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp claimed Spacey, then 26, made sexual advances toward him when he was only 14 years old. Since then, more than 30 men have come forward with their own accusations — including several House of Cards crew members, prompting an investigation by MRC, the company behind the show.

As a result of the allegations, in 2020, a private arbiter found that Spacey had breached his contract by violating the company’s sexual harassment policy. The arbitration process successfully proved the actor cost MRC millions of dollars when they had to halt production, remove him from the sixth season, rewrite it without him, and cut the number of episodes from 13 to eight, per USA Today.

Spacey, denying the allegations made against him, challenged the 2020 ruling, in which he was ordered to pay around $29.5 million in damages and $1.5 million in costs and fees, per Variety. He argued that his actions did not have to do with House of Cards losing profits. Ultimately, the judge granted MRC’s petition and ordered that he pay the full $30.9 million.

“We are pleased with the court’s ruling,” MRC counsel Michael Kump told EW.

Back in May, Spacey was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent,” according to Variety. Last month, he plead not guilty to the charges.

Despite the charges, he is still set to appear in the upcoming thriller movie, Peter Five Eight.