Shifting loyalties. A mishmash of half-truths in pursuit of a nine-figure insurance payout. Complaints from crewmembers against the trio at the top of House of Cards‘ call sheet.
In a dusty annex at a Santa Monica courthouse on Tuesday, Kevin Spacey detailed the behind-the-scenes maneuvering of people in his orbit to recover money from the imploded final season of the Netflix show. He testified that he was ready and willing to film the sixth season of House of Cards but that he was unfairly ousted on false grounds so the show’s producers could submit a massive insurance claim. The actor was articulate and quick-witted, unrepentant and resolute — challenging the allegations of sexual impropriety and sexual compulsion diagnosis that upended his career nearly a decade ago.
Spacey’s testimony headlines a long-running case pitting Media Rights Capital, the production company behind House of Cards, against its insurer. In an unusual arrangement, he struck a deal with MRC to reduce its $31 million arbitration award against him in exchange for turning over his medical records. They’re an essential piece of the company’s case to convince the jury that Spacey had a legitimate illness that prevented him from filming.
Still, bad blood appears to have lingered between the two sides. Spacey was unwilling to conform with MRC’s telling of events despite their deal.
At every turn, Spacey disputed findings in his medical records from his time at The Meadows, a luxe Arizona rehab facility he checked into after he was accused of sexual harassment, showing that he had a condition requiring treatment.
“Throughout the medical records, there are comments attributed to me that I never said,” Spacey testified. “They’re under the impression I have a British accent and have a wife.”
Spacey’s posture on his condition was contested by testimony from Michael Genovese, a psychiatrist and expert witness for MRC who said that Spacey contemplated suicide. “One [idea] was to hang himself the night before he went into The Meadows,” Genovese recounted. Another was to step in front of a vehicle during his stay at the rehab facility, he added.
Spacey was “unable to fulfill his duties on the set of House of Cards in 2017 as a result of this disease,” Genovese said. “There was no way.”
Spacey’s refusal to take accountability for his alleged sexual misconduct emerged as a major theme in the line of questioning from Adam Ziffer, a lawyer for the company, possibly to undermine later testimony from the actor that he didn’t have an illness and was prepared to shoot the sixth season of House of Cards. The actor stressed he didn’t believe the CNN report published in 2017 accusing Spacey of sexually harassing crew members, along with other stories revolving around allegations of sexual impropriety.
“It’d be nice if she corrected her story,” he quipped, referring to the reporter who wrote the story.
Asked about the legitimacy of accusations of several anonymous accusers, Spacey denied allegations of inappropriate touching. He referred to one the allegations in a prior deposition as an “entirely made up story.”
In the legal dispute between MRC and Spacey, which resulted in the $31 million judgement, an arbitrator found each of the complaining witnesses credible and that he violated anti-harassment policies in his contract.
“The conclusion is that for all of these reasons, it’s more likely than not that these incidents occurred,” Ziffer said, which drew a quick reply from Spacey that the standard is a “very low bar.”
“In your view, none of this occurred because you don’t misbehave on sets,” Ziffer responded. “I think we got a good look at how your accountability works.”
Spacey was much more receptive to questioning from Fireman’s Fund, which is looking to establish that he was ousted from the production because of media fallout in response to allegations of sexual assault rather than an underlying illness.
Asked whether he agreed with a diagnosis for sexual compulsive disorder, Spacey said he was initially told by a medical professional at The Meadows that he didn’t qualify as a sex addict. “I only found out later that they had in fact diagnosed me as sexually compulsive,” he said. “I can’t professionally dispute that, but I can personally dispute it.”
The founder of the rehab facility, he said, later asked him to be a spokesperson for sex addiction. “It was very much obvious they wanted me to be a sex addict.”
Spacey’s stay at The Meadows has been a major focus of the trial. His lawyer, Todd Rubenstein, told the production company on Nov. 4 that the actor was “available, willing and able to provide all of the services” required under his contract. That clashed with an earlier assertion from his agent, Matt DelPiano, to MRC CEO Scott Tenley a couple days earlier that Spacey was “sick” and going away for a “very long time.”
Before checking into the treatment center, Spacey’s manager had a conversation with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos. “He said that I was family and that we were partners and that none of this would effect [House of Cards] and that they would go on hiatus and nothing would happen until Thanksgiving,” the actor said. “That they loved me and supported me and were supportive of my going away to take care of myself.”
But over Thanksgiving, Spacey learned that Netflix had walked away and publicly divorced itself from him alongside shelving Spacey starring-vehicle Gore despite Sarandos’ representation to him otherwise.
Also discussed during the hearing: Complaints from crewmembers against Robin Wright and Michael Kelly. “There had been an incident where he pulled a woman who was a member of the crew onto a bed,” Spacey said, referring to Kelly. “It became something that people talked about.”
The complaint against Wright wasn’t specified, though Spacey was asked about sexual jokes preceding the question implicating the actress.
MRC seeks upwards of $100 million. The trial began with opening statements earlier this month. It’s expected to last for several more weeks.
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