It’s been one lawsuit after another as A-lister Kevin Spacey has battled to save his name, liberty and fortune since the sex scandal which engulfed him in 2017.
The star has lost his houses and his money, and was essentially cancelled by Hollywood following allegations by the actor Anthony Rapp that Spacey had acted improperly at a party in 1986, when Mr Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26.
This was followed by allegations of ‘handsy’ behaviour and sexual assault on the set of his Netflix hit House Of Cards.
Two years ago he was acquitted in a UK court of nine charges of assault relating to his time in charge of the historic Old Vic theatre in London. But legal actions grind on in the US.
Recently, the Oscar-winning actor joined a $150million (£112million) legal fight against the insurers of House Of Cards – in an apparent desperate bid to stave off personal bankruptcy.
Kevin Spacey leaves a New York court in 2022 after he was found not liable in a lawsuit brought forward by fellow actor Anthony Rapp
Mr Rapp arrives at the New York City court, having accused Spacey of acting improperly at a party when he was 14 and Spacey was 26
MRC (one of the production companies behind the show) had previously successfully sued Spacey for $31million (£23million), saying that his conduct on the series led to him being suspended. But it agreed to take just $1million (£740,000) from Spacey, on the condition he joined its lawsuit.
They are suing the show’s insurers for a payout on the grounds that Spacey was ill with ‘compulsive sexual behaviour disorder’ in 2017.
Now, however, the insurers have applied to throw the whole lawsuit into the bin, essentially saying that Spacey and MRC can’t possibly make the argument both ways – either he was too sick to appear or he was suspended due to the scandal.
Trying to ‘have their cake and eat it’?
This ‘have your cake and eat it’ has a legal name, which is ‘judicial estoppel’. It could be bad news indeed for Spacey, both financially and reputationally.
In a motion for summary judgement, filed three weeks ago, lawyers for the insurers pointed out MRC already successfully sued Spacey for the $31million because he was suspended for misconduct, meaning the show had to be rewritten to remove him from it.
MRC is now saying the financial loss was caused ‘solely and directly’ by illness (Spacey’s sex addiction) and that this stopped him from returning, so it wants a whopper payout to cover the cost of his sickness.
Spacey as ambitious and vicious politician Frank Underwood in the hit Netflix series House Of Cards
The lawyers say: ‘In MRC v Spacey, MRC claimed and proved the damages were caused by his acts in seasons one through five. Now, it has reversed course and claims that it was not Spacey’s acts in seasons one through five that caused the loss, but solely Spacey’s “unavailability” during season six. Only one of these positions can be true.’
In other words, if you’ve won a payout in a lawsuit based on one version of the facts, you can’t then try to sue claiming a contradictory reading of events.
Spacey was sacked from House Of Cards in 2017 after allegations of sexual impropriety – first from actor Anthony Rapp; then from eight cast and crew members who accused him of creating a ‘toxic’ work environment via sexual harassment and ‘handsy’ behaviour.
At the time, an arbitrator ruled that the assault allegations were credible, and MRC should recoup its costs for having to start over without him on the final series, with the company successfully suing Spacey for the $31million.
However, in what even the judge in this case termed a ‘funny turn’ of events – that’s funny peculiar – last year Spacey struck an agreement with MRC allowing him to pay them only $1million in instalments. Spacey was saved from bankruptcy. In return, he agreed to help them sue their insurers.
Read More
After so many private battles nearly doomed Taylor and Travis, friends know why she fell so hard
Court papers filed at the time of the scandal show Spacey’s lawyers repeatedly saying he was fit and ready to return to work.
Spacey’s brief, Bryan Freedman, wrote on November 8, 2017: ‘Mr Spacey has no known “illness” that has not been disclosed. Your continued publication of false information about him being “ill” takes inappropriate liberties with the public statement that we did release; is disparaging, defamatory and violates his privacy rights.’
A longer letter from Spacey’s attorney Jeffrey L. Shulman later that month expanded on his client’s position: ‘To be clear, Mr Spacey is not incapacitated.’
MRC is now seeking $150million to cover lost production costs and profits.
In a document filed in January, the TV production company noted: ‘Plaintiffs were advised that Mr Spacey was “sick”, going away for a “very long time”.’
The document, which is redacted in parts, said Spacey was suffering from compulsive sexual behaviour disorder ‘characterized by a persistent inability to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges resulting in recurring sexual behaviour’ which ‘manifests over an extended period (six months or more)’.
Even Netflix supremo Ted Sarandos has been dragged in…
Insurance company loss adjustor Stephen Leedecke said the case was highly unusual, because he didn’t have a diagnosis from doctors to work with, despite repeated requests. Mr Leedecke said he still doesn’t know who Spacey’s doctors were. All he was told was that ‘he apparently was checked into an unidentified medical treatment center for an unknown illness’.
Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has been dragged into the mess too, and is now fighting efforts to make him give evidence. He said in a court filing that at the time when Spacey’s lawyers said he was ready to return to set, he was actually in the famed Meadows clinic being treated for a sex disorder.
Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has been dragged into the legal battle, and is now fighting efforts to make him give evidence
The court filing said: ‘On November 2, 2017, CNN reported that Mr Spacey had engaged in a pattern of sexually “predatory” behavior directed at young crew members on the set of HOC…
‘That same day, on November 2, 2017, Mr. Spacey checked himself into The Meadows, a treatment center known for treating sexual compulsive behavior.
The actor has been accused of sexual assault or harassment in numerous lawsuits but has been exonerated, found not liable or had the charges dropped for other reasons in all of them.
In 2022, a jury in New York found that he did not molest Mr Rapp – and Mr Rapp was ordered to pay Spacey litigation costs.
Last year he denied a string of allegations of sexual harassment and assault made in a Channel 4 documentary.
Meghan may soon be off our screens – but Harry’s next plan could be the most damaging yet
Enjoying the second series of With Love, Meghan? Well, make the most of it because I hear that the series is likely to take a rest after this and her planned ‘holiday special’ in December.
Netflix, as we all know, has chosen to renew Harry and Meghan’s deal on a ‘first look’ basis.
Season two of With Love, Meghan aired on August 26, with a Christmas special slated to be released in December
What this means is that they are still in the Harry and Meghan business, but don’t have to pay them (as much) without results.
The couple will then get paid on top of that for any further work they do, plus Netflix will – quite unusually – pay for anything they want to buy to develop, such as the Carley Fortune chick lit book Meet Me At The Lake, which is in development at Netflix as a movie.
I hear Meghan would like to do a travel and food show, perhaps set in their new home state of California, which would allow her to juggle a TV career with parenting Archie, six, and Lilibet, four.
As to the idea of Harry co-operating with a documentary about Princess Diana – no comment from Team Sussex, which generally means that it’s a yes.
I can see what’s in it for Netflix – it could be sensational. But it will only further torch Harry’s non-existent relationship with his brother, Prince William, and set back the process of reconciliation which Harry says that he wants.