Kevin Spacey to pay $31m to studio after abuse claims

A mediator has ordered Kevin Spacey to pay nearly $31m (£23.2m) to the studio that made the hit Netflix show, House of Cards, for breach of contract following sexual harassment allegations against the US actor.

The secret ruling was made last year, but became public on Monday after lawyers for the studio, MRC, filed a court petition to confirm the award.

The actor has faced several sexual assault allegations since 2017.

He has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Spacey, 62, lost his starring role as a conniving politician in House of Cards, and has kept a relatively low profile since being accused of creating a "toxic" work environment on set by allegedly making crude comments and touching young staffers without their consent.

He was one of the first major Hollywood figures to be publicly accused of misconduct in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and as the #MeToo movement was gaining momentum.

MRC and Netflix fired Mr Spacey from House of Cards and wrote him out of the show.

As a result, the studio said it lost millions of dollars because it had already started working on the next season, the arbitration papers say, according to US media.