Former House Of Cards star Kevin Spacey ordered to pay $31m to studio
Kevin Spacey and his production companies have been ordered to pay $31m (£23m) to the studio behind House Of Cards.
Spacey, 62, violated his contract’s demands for professional behaviour by “engaging certain conduct in connection with several crew members” in each of the five seasons he was involved in, according to a document filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The studio – MRC – had to fire Spacey from the show in its sixth season, re-writing the script to remove his central character and cutting the season from 13 to eight episodes so it could still meet deadlines.
This resulted in the loss of tens of millions of dollars, the document said.
Spacey had been playing the role of Frank Underwood before several sexual assault allegations were made against him, although he denies any wrongdoing.
MRC filed the arbitration demand in January 2019, seeking to recover its costs.
Spacey had filed a counter-claim, saying the production company had wrongfully terminated his contract and breached its obligations to “pay or play” under the agreement.
His lawyers had also argued that the sexual assault allegations against him were not a major factor in the show’s losses.
House Of Cards was filming its sixth season when Spacey was fired from the show. Pic: Rex
The fight between between the two included an eight-day hearing in February 2020 which was kept secret from the public.
The arbitrator issued a 46-page ruling in July 2020, which remains confidential but found in favour of the production company.
According to a report in Variety, the petition stated: “The arbitrator found that Spacey’s conduct constituted a material breach of his acting and executive producing agreements with MRC, and that his breaches excused MRC’s obligations to pay him any further compensation in connection with the show.”
The arbitrator also found that “Spacey’s egregious breaches of contract” made him and his companies liable for MRC’s tens of millions of dollars of extra costs.
Spacey had appealed the initial decision to a panel of three more private arbitrators but they also found for the studio, making the decision final – and public – on Monday.
The actor and his companies – M Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions – were ordered to pay $29.5m (£22m) in damages as well as $1.2m (£900,000) in legal fees, and $235,000 (£175,000) in costs.
MRC said in a statement: “The safety of our employees, sets, and work environments is of paramount importance to MRC and why we set out to push for accountability.”
Several people have filed lawsuits alleging they were sexually assaulted by Spacey but the only criminal case brought against him – an indecent assault and battery charge that accused him of groping an 18-year-old man – was dismissed by prosecutors in Massachusetts in 2019.
Johnny Depp has said he tried to talk the director of his new film out of casting him in one of the lead roles.
The Hollywood star plays France’s King Louis XV in historical drama Jeanne Du Barry, and attended the UK premiere in London on Monday evening.
Depp, 60, made his return to the red carpet for what is his first feature film since the conclusion of his high-profile defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard in the US in 2022.
The film follows the life of Jeanne, a working-class woman who uses her intelligence and allure to climb the social hierarchy, eventually landing on the radar of the king. The character is played by French actress Maiwenn, who is also a co-writer and the film’s director.
Depp stars as King Louis XV. Pic: Stephanie Branchu/Why Not Productions
Depp spoke on stage at the premiere, saying he was surprised when he was approached about the film.
According to Hollywood trade publication Deadline, the actor, who is from Owensboro, Kentucky, told the audience: “Instantly what happens in your brain is that you go back to eastern Kentucky… you realise that you come from the ‘ombelico’, ‘nombril’, the belly button of nowhere, and you’re playing the king of France.
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Johnny Depp reading at MacGowan funeral
“It made no sense to me, I tried to talk her out of it. She wasn’t hearing it, and she had great courage to take me into her cast.”
Jeanne Du Barry received a seven-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023.
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The film is Depp’s first major on-screen appearance following his lawsuits against Heard and the publishers of The Sun newspaper in the UK.
In 2022, he successfully sued Heard over a 2018 article she wrote for The Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser.
However, his UK case two years earlier was not successful, with a High Court judge finding that Depp had assaulted Heard during their relationship.
Entertainment
Hannah Waddingham hits back at photographer over ‘show leg’ request on Olivier Awards red carpet
Olivier Awards presenter Hannah Waddingham has made headlines for hitting back at a photographer who appears to have asked her to “show leg”.
In a video posted by a fan on X, Waddingham, 49, was heard scolding a photographer over a comment which cannot be heard but is inferred to have been a demand for her to show more skin.
“Oh my God, you’d never say that to a man, my friend,” the Ted Lasso actress said, before adding: “Don’t be a dick or I’ll move off. Don’t say, ‘show your leg’.”
Waddingham walks off before turning around and pointing her finger saying: “Have some manners”.
The incident happened as Waddingham posed on the red carpet ahead of the Olivier Awards at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday night.
According to the person recording the incident, “Hannah was being her gorgeous self” when the photographer “made some comment about her leg”.
They added: “Well, the video speaks for itself. This woman is a role model. Always, always call pricks out on their bullshit.”
‘What a queen’
Fans heaped praise on the actress, with one commenting on the video saying: “What a queen – just when I thought I couldn’t love her more!”
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One Ted Lasso fan commented on Waddingham’s rebuke of the photographer’s apparent demand saying: “This is boss.”
Another X user praised the actress for her “class” saying it “will always stand out, well done Hannah”.
Waddingham, whose own work on the West End received three Olivier award nominations, presented the prestigious theatre awards for the second year in a row.
Olivier award winners
Sunset Boulevard dominated the Olivier awards, winning seven of its 11 nominations at the star-studded ceremony on Sunday night.
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Among the show’s triumphs were the best actor and best actress in a musical awards for its leading duo Tom Francis and Nicole Scherzinger, the former Pussycat Doll and Britain’s Got Talent judge.
The Best actor award went to former Sherlock and Game Of Thrones actor Mark Gatiss for his role in Jack Thorne’s The Motive And The Cue.
Succession star Sarah Snook beat fellow nominee Sex And The City star Sarah Jessica Parker to take home the best actress award for her West End debut performance in The Picture Of Dorian Gray.
It started with a gentle “I need your participation, please”, as Blur frontman Damon Albarn sought an audience singalong during a Coachella performance.
But as the British rock band were consistently met with near-silence, an increasingly frustrated Albarn eventually remarked: “You’ll never see us again”.
The English band have released nine albums since its formation in 1988, seven of which reached No 1 in the charts, including their latest record, The Ballad of Darren, which was produced following an eight-year break.
But some of their hits did not seem to resonate with audiences at the world-famous Coachella festival, held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, over the weekend.
During their Saturday slot, the group, part of a star-studded line-up, performed a host of their hits including Song 2, Beetlebum and Tender.
As the band struck up the chords to their 1994 hit Girls & Boys, lead singer Albarn, 56, tried to encourage the crowd to sing along to the chorus, saying: “I need your participation, please.”
In videos shared on social media, he can be seen attempting to engage the concert-goers a number of times, telling them “you can do it better than that”, but his efforts continued to receive a lacklustre response from the US crowd.
Damon Albarn of British band Blur performs during the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California in 2013. Pic: Reuters
The musician appeared to get increasingly frustrated until he told the audience: “You’ll never see us again so you may as
well f****** sing it.”
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Dressed in a white suit and a black T-shirt paired with a pair of black sunglasses, Albarn led the band, which also includes guitarist Graham Coxon, bass guitarist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree.
Blur have released nine albums in total, including 1994’s Parklife, 1995’s The Great Escape, 1997’s Blur, 1999’s 13, 2003’s Think Tank and 2015’s The Magic Whip – which all went to number one in the charts.
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The group helped pioneer the Britpop genre, fiercely competing with rival band Oasis in the charts over the years.
They went on hiatus after their 2015 Magic Whip tour, but came back last year with their first record for eight years, titled The Ballad Of Darren, which soared to number one.
Singer-songwriter Raye and dance outfit Jungle were also among the British acts who took to the Coachella stage over the weekend.
London-born Raye teased her next music project during her set, the follow-up to her award-winning debut album My 21st Century Blues.
Last month, she overtook Blur, Harry Styles and Adele by picking up the most Brit awards in one year during the 2024 ceremony.
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