Kevin Spacey Ordered To Pay $31 Million To “House of Cards” Production Company

ByBrian Warneron November 23, 2021inArticles›Entertainment

Prior to 2013, Netflix streamed a fairly limited collection of shows, all of which were produced by other parties. Streaming other people’s content created a huge anxiety within Netflix. What would Netflix stream if all the broadcast networks simply stopped renewing their deals? What if all the networks, after seeing the streaming success of shows like “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad,” – both of which became popular on Netflix after debuting on AMC to little fanfare – decided to either create their own platforms or sell their streaming rights to Hulu, which the networks partially…

The obvious solution was to create their own content.

So Netflix went on the hunt for an original series concept.

While this was all playing out, a production company called Media Rights Capital had recently acquired the remake rights to a British political drama miniseries called “House of Cards” that was based on a 1989 novel of the same name.

Media Rights Capital (MRC) approached HBO, Showtime and AMC to sell the show. Netflix swooped in and outbid everyone.

Next, Netflix simply hired David Fincher and gave him a blank check to produce the series with Kevin Spacey as the star.

(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

“House of Cards” premiered on February 1, 2013. It was the very first Netflix Original series. Fast forward almost a decade and Netflix has made over a thousand original series and films, several of which were actually good.

The first two seasons of “House of Cards” were GREAT and the show quickly became a global sensation. The show received 33 Emmy nominations and eight Golden Globe nominations. Spacey and his co-star Robin Wright won numerous accolades and became cultural icons. In 2016, Kevin sat dressed as title character “Frank Underwood” for a portrait by a British artist known for painting world figures. The painting was commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute and would be housed in the National Portrait Gallery!

My point is, the show was a big deal. And Kevin Spacey was an especially big deal.

Season three was OK. At some point in either season three or four, the show really started to stink. I never watched season five.

In between seasons five and six, shit hit the fan.

In October 2017 “House of Cards” was in the thick of filming episodes for their sixth season which had been fully written and planned out. MRC had produced two of what was supposed to be 13 episodes when actor Anthony Rapp told BuzzFeed a story about a party in 1986. According to Rapp, at this party Kevin Spacey made unwanted sexual advances while the two were alone in a bedroom. At the time Rapp was 14 years old. Not good. Spacey claimed he couldn’t recall the incident in a Tweet that was maybe the biggest belly flop apology of all time.

A bunch of other allegations quickly popped up related to Spacey’s bad behavior on and off sets. It was also soon revealed that Spacey had to be reprimanded by Media Rights Capital for an incident that occurred on set during the filming of “House of Cards” season one.

In the wake of the Rapp allegation and subsequent firestorm, Spacey was fired from the show. MRC was forced to put those first two episodes in the trashcan and completely re-write what became an abbreviated sixth season that debuted in November 2018.

That was the end of “House of Cards.”

But the drama wasn’t totally over!

In January 2019 MRC sued Kevin alleging he " breached provisions of both the Acting and Executive Producing Agreements that set standards for his workplace conduct, including by breaching MRC’s Harassment Policy .

MRC’s lawsuit sought compensation FROM SPACEY PERSONALLY for the financial damages it incurred for having to scrap the entire sixth season after filming two episodes. Furthermore, MRC claimed in the scramble to right the ship, it only had enough time to produce eight episodes for the sixth season, five fewer than Netflix ordered. MRC lost millions in licensing fees by not being able to deliver a full season.

In response, Spacey claimed HE was the one whose agreement was breached. Spacey claimed that the allegations, some of which he disputed, did not result in a breach of his contracts. He claimed it was a simple business decision that MRC made.

The lawsuit went to arbitration and a decision was made today.

Today MRC was awarded $29.5 million in damages and $1.4 million in attorney’s fees from Spacey. In total, the bill comes to almost exactly $31 million.

Unclear if Spacey can appeal. If he can, I’m sure he will. By our count, Kevin Spacey’s net worth currently sits at $70 million. A healthy chunk of change, but still a very painful hit if $31 million is upheld.

On the plus side, this terrible situation prevented more seasons of “House of Cards” from being produced. It also gave rise to Kevin Spacey the once-per-year awkward YouTube star .

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Kevin Spacey’s $6 Million Waterfront Baltimore Mansion Heads To Foreclosure Auction Next Month

ByBrian Warneron January 29, 2024inArticles›Celebrity Homes

In February 2017, a five-story home on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor waterfront sold for $5.65 million. The house was bought through a corporate entity called “Clear Coaster, LLC.”

From the moment the transaction closed, everyone wanted to know who would pay that much – a record price for the area – for a home in Baltimore? Perhaps a player on the Ravens or the Orioles? Or maybe Kevin Plank , the founder of Baltimore-based Under Armor sportswear company? Maybe Stringer Bell? The home in question spans 9,000 square feet, has six bedrooms, a home theater, elevator and sauna. Here is a video tour:

With a bit of digging, local sleuths figured out that Clear Toaster was managed by a man named David Bolno. Blono was a partner in an LA-based accounting/business management firm that represents wealthy entertainers. A little more digging uncovered that Bolno acted on behalf of another person named Evan Lowenstein.

Who was Evan Lowenstein? A little more digging revealed that in the late 1990s/early 2000s, Kevin was in a boy band called Evan and Jaron, whose song “Crazy for This Girl” hit #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2000. Evan eventually gave up singing and became a manager. In February 2017, Evan had precisely one client: Kevin Spacey.

Now, it was all coming together.

In early 2017, Kevin was still a beloved actor starring on a massive Netflix show, “House of Cards.” A show that paid him $20 million a season as both the star and producer.

Why would Kevin Spacey need a $5.65 million home in Baltimore? Because “House of Cards,” which at this point was about to begin production on its fifth season, was filmed at a studio 30 minutes away in Joppa, Maryland.

As it would turn out, Kevin would only have around six months of peace and happiness in this home. In October of 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that at a party in 1986, Spacey made sexual advances towards him. At the time, Rapp was 14. Spacey was 26. This allegation opened the proverbial floodgates. Fifteen other people came forward and made similar allegations against Spacey. His career and reputation were swiftly destroyed.

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(Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Netflix didn’t know what to do with Spacey. “House of Cards” pretty much single-handedly minted Netflix and original content streaming business. In the end, Netflix and the production company behind the show, Media Rights Capital (MRC), decided to end the series after a shortened sixth season. Spacey was removed from the show as both a star and executive producer. Netflix also canceled a biopic about Gore Vidal that he was supposed to star in and eventually cut ties altogether. As did Kevin’s agency, Creative Artists Agency. Kevin’s career was dead. And with it, his ability to earn $20 million a season from “House of Cards” and $5-10 million per major film role were also gone. And that wasn’t the worst of the financial pain to come.

In January 2019, Media Rights Capital sued Kevin. MRC’s lawsuit sought compensation FROM SPACEY PERSONALLY for the financial damages it incurred for having to scrap the entire sixth season after filming two episodes. Furthermore, MRC claimed in the scramble to right the ship, it only had enough time to produce eight episodes for the sixth season, five fewer than Netflix ordered. MRC lost millions in licensing fees by not being able to deliver a full season. In November 2021, a jury agreed with MRC and ordered Kevin to pay $31 million in damages. Kevin appealed, but in August 2022, the damages were upheld. This meant that Kevin had to pay MRC $31 million personally.

It’s possible Kevin Spacey could have cut that check at the absolute peak of his career when he had a net worth that we estimate once topped $50 million . But after spending God knows how much money on lawsuits and losing his ability to earn big paychecks, clearly something was off for Kevin’s finances.

This probably explains why, in mid-2022, Kevin reportedly stopped paying his $20,000 monthly mortgage on the Baltimore house. By February of 2023, the debt had apparently grown to $171,000, and a debt collector had sought permission to begin foreclosure proceedings. In July of 2023, the Home Owners Association filed a $43,400 lien against the property, apparently because he had not paid the $2,600 monthly HOA fee for approximately 16 months. In August of 2023, a judge granted a debt collection agency the right to sell the mansion. That foreclosure auction will take place on February 29.

It’s not clear if Kevin owns other real estate around the country that he can retreat to after this home is sold at auction. He has always bought properties through LLCs, just as he did in Baltimore, to obscure his identity. We do know that he previously owned a mansion in Los Angeles. In 1997, Kevin paid $2.135 million for a home in LA’s Los Feliz neighborhood. He sold this house in July 2017 for $11 million.

The opening bid for Kevin’s soon-to-be former Baltimore house is not known. I’m no Baltimore real estate expert, but I can’t imagine there are a lot of people interested in paying $5+ million for homes in downtown Baltimore. Especially ones that have the bad mojo of Kevin Spacey as the previous tenant. There’s one property currently listed for sale in all of Baltimore for over $4 million. It’s a condo not far from Kevin’s unit. The list price is $4.25 million and has been on the market for 236 days.

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