The Kevin Spacey MRC lawsuit began when Media Rights Capital fired Spacey from House of Cards in late 2017 and pursued him in arbitration for breaching his contracts. MRC won roughly $31 million in 2020, saw that award confirmed in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2022, then agreed in December 2023 to reduce Spacey’s obligation to $1 million in exchange for his cooperation in a much larger lawsuit against the show’s insurers. That insurance case went to trial in Santa Monica and ended on March 24, 2026, with a jury finding for the insurer. The arbitration award was formally vacated on April 21, 2026.
Why MRC Fired Spacey
After Anthony Rapp’s October 2017 BuzzFeed News interview and the wave of allegations that followed, MRC suspended production on House of Cards and hired a workplace investigator. The internal review turned up allegations involving five specific crew members across the five seasons Spacey had starred in and executive produced, ranging from crude comments to non-consensual touching of young male staffers, including a production assistant who said Spacey had groped him. Many of these incidents had not appeared in the initial public reporting.
On November 3, 2017, Netflix said it would not participate in any further production involving Spacey. MRC terminated his acting and executive producing contracts and wrote him out of the final season. The sixth season was rebuilt around Robin Wright’s character and cut from a planned 13 episodes to eight, which MRC later said cost tens of millions in lost profits.
The $31 Million Arbitration Award
MRC filed a JAMS arbitration in January 2019 to recover its losses. Spacey filed cross-claims alleging MRC had breached his contracts. Twenty depositions and eight days of hearings followed in February 2020.
The arbitrator ruled for MRC. Spacey’s conduct with the five crew members was a material breach of both his acting and executive producing agreements, which excused MRC from further performance. The arbitrator awarded about $29.5 million in damages for lost profits on the truncated final season and roughly $1.4 million in attorneys’ fees and costs, for a total near $31 million.
Spacey’s lawyers characterized his behavior as “sexual innuendos” and “innocent horseplay” and argued that MRC had decided to write out his character before its investigation was complete. A JAMS appellate panel of three former judges affirmed the award. On August 4, 2022, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana confirmed it, writing that Spacey’s team had not shown the case was “even a close case” and that the damages were “rationally related to his breach.”
The $1 Million Settlement and What MRC Got For the Reduction
By late 2023 the judgment, with interest, had grown to roughly $36 million, and Spacey’s ability to pay had collapsed. He later told Piers Morgan he was “millions of dollars in debt” and facing foreclosure on his Baltimore home, which sold at auction in July 2024 for $3.24 million against a previous $5.6 million valuation.
On December 18, 2023, MRC and Spacey reached a settlement cutting his obligation from $31 million to $1 million, payable in installments of 10% of his after-tax income. In return, Spacey agreed to cooperate with MRC’s separate lawsuit against the show’s insurers, Fireman’s Fund and Lloyd’s of London. That cooperation included testifying on MRC’s behalf, submitting to medical examinations, and turning over his medical records from a 2017 stay at The Meadows, an Arizona rehabilitation facility. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge approved the deal.
The trade was calculated. MRC was unlikely to collect the full judgment from Spacey. What it needed was his records and testimony to support an insurance claim potentially worth more than $100 million.
The Insurance Lawsuit
MRC’s cast insurance policy with Fireman’s Fund covered losses caused by a lead actor’s inability to work due to “sickness.” MRC argued that Spacey’s departure was not just a reaction to bad publicity but was caused by a qualifying medical condition: sexual compulsive disorder.
Spacey’s discharge records from The Meadows included a diagnosis of “other specified obsessive and related behaviors, sexual compulsive behavior, generalized anxiety disorder.” MRC’s expert, psychiatrist Michael Genovese, testified that Spacey’s condition was severe enough that he would have been “unable to fulfill his duties” on set and that Spacey had contemplated suicide during his stay.
Spacey’s testimony did not help MRC. On the stand in Santa Monica he challenged the accuracy of his own medical records, saying they contained statements attributed to him that he never made, including claims that he had a British accent and a wife. He said he had only learned of the sex addiction diagnosis after the fact: “I can’t professionally dispute it, but I can personally dispute it.” He alleged that the founder of The Meadows had asked him to become a spokesperson for sex addiction awareness, adding, “It was very much obvious they wanted me to be a sex addict.” He also told the jury he had been “ready and willing” to film the final season and that producers had ousted him solely because of the public scandal.
The March 2026 Jury Verdict
After a five-week trial in Santa Monica, the jury returned its verdict on March 24, 2026. It found that MRC had not proven Spacey’s inability to work was caused by a covered illness. The evidence, the jury concluded, supported Fireman’s Fund’s position that Spacey’s removal was a business decision driven by publicity and media fallout, not a medical condition triggering the policy. Fireman’s Fund called it a “strong win.”
MRC had initially sought more than $100 million and adjusted its claim at trial to roughly $29.5 million. Fireman’s Fund had argued damages, if any, were closer to $19.2 million. The jury awarded nothing.
A separate claim MRC had brought against Lloyd’s of London had already been dismissed after the court sustained the insurer’s demurrer without leave to amend. That dismissal was on appeal as of early 2026.
Vacatur of the Arbitration Award
On April 21, 2026, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Virginia Keeny, who inherited the case after Judge Recana’s 2024 retirement, formally vacated the roughly $31 million arbitration award. The vacatur was a joint request fulfilling a provision of the December 2023 settlement. Both sides stipulated that the conditions had been met, each party bears its own legal costs, and neither is declared the prevailing party.
Spacey’s representatives said he “disagrees with the arbitrator’s factual findings and maintains that he did not sexually harass anyone,” though he had previously acknowledged the findings were “entitled to deference.”
Where the Case Left Both Sides
For MRC, the outcome was a significant setback. The company traded a confirmed $31 million judgment against an insolvent defendant for $1 million and a litigation strategy that ultimately produced nothing from Fireman’s Fund and a dismissal against Lloyd’s that is on appeal.
Spacey, as of late 2025, said he was “living in hotels” and Airbnbs with his belongings in storage. He said he had made six films in the preceding three years but had not been hired by a major studio, described his finances as “not great,” and said bankruptcy had been discussed but never filed.