After allegations of sexual misconduct, Kevin Spacey will pay $31 million to the studio

Following sexual harassment charges against the US actor, a mediator has ordered Kevin Spacey to pay roughly $31 million (£23.2 million) to the studio that produced the hit Netflix series House of Cards for breach of contract.

The decision was made in secret last year, but after the studio’s lawyers, MRC, filed a court petition to confirm the award, it was made public on Monday.

Since 2017, the actor has been accused of sexual assault on multiple occasions. He has categorically denied any misconduct.

Mr Spacey, 62, lost his starring role as a conniving politician in House of Cards and has kept a low profile since being accused of making crude comments and touching young staffers without their consent.

In the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein incident and as the #MeToo movement gained traction, he was one of the first major Hollywood celebrities to be openly accused of misconduct.

Mr Spacey was sacked from House of Cards by MRC and Netflix, and his character was written off of the show.

According to US media reports, the studio said it lost millions of dollars as a result of this because it had already begun development on the next season.

In January 2019, MRC filed a lawsuit seeking reimbursement for the expenditures, claiming that Mr Spacey’s actions were in violation of the studio’s sexual harassment policy.

He filed an appeal, but it was dismissed earlier this month. His lawyer has declined to speak to the press in the United States.

Mr Spacey was accused of sexual assault for the first time in public in October 2017, when actor Anthony Rapp claimed he was sexually harassed when he was 14 years old.

Following that, he was accused of groping a youngster in a Massachusetts bar in 2016, which led to a civil suit being withdrawn, and of sexually assaulting a massage therapist in Malibu, California. Before his legal lawsuit could be heard, the masseur died in 2019.

As a result of the claims, Mr Spacey lost numerous acting roles, but he returned this year with a modest role in a low-budget, independent Italian film produced by Franco Nero.