Kevin Spacey returned to the courtroom Tuesday with explosive testimony that reignited the controversy surrounding his 2017 ousting from Netflix’s House of Cards.
The Oscar-winning actor during his appearance in the Superior Court of California claimed his firing was based on “false grounds,” directly challenging production company Media Rights Capital (MRC).
The company has argued Spacey was unable to return to the series due to a sexual compulsive disorder diagnosis.
MRC is suing its insurer, Fireman’s Fund, for $100 million in losses tied to Spacey’s removal.
But instead of bolstering the company’s case, Spacey alleged he was cut loose because executives were embarrassed by the wave of misconduct allegations against him.
MRC maintained Spacey’s diagnosis made him unfit to reprise his role as Francis Underwood in season 6.
Psychiatrist Michael Genovese testified Spacey was “unable to fulfill his duties” in 2017.
Spacey countered by saying his medical records contained “comments attributed to me that I never said.”
Spacey was fired in November 2017, days after actor Anthony Rapp accused him of making an unwanted sexual advance when Rapp was 14.
Netflix also scrapped Spacey’s film Gore.
In 2020, a private arbitrator found Spacey had breached his contract by violating MRC’s sexual harassment policy, ordering him to pay $31 million.
That figure was later reduced to $1 million in exchange for medical records central to the insurer dispute.
