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Kevin Spacey ordered to pay

for ‘House of Cards’ losses

LOS ANGELES — Kevin Spacey and his production companies must pay the studio behind “House of Cards” more than $30 million because of losses brought on by his firing for sexual misconduct, according to an arbitration decision made final Monday.

A document filed in Los Angeles Superior Court requesting a judge’s approval of the ruling says that the arbitrators found that Spacey violated his contract’s demands for professional behavior by “engaging certain conduct in connection with several crew members in each of the five seasons that he starred in and executive produced ‘House of Cards.'”

MRC, the studio behind “House of Cards,” had to fire Spacey, halt production of the show’s sixth season, rewrite it to remove Spacey’s central character, and shorten it from 13 to eight episodes to meet deadlines, resulting in tens of millions in losses, the document said.

“The safety of our employees, sets and work environments is of paramount importance to MRC and why we set out to push for accountability,” MRC said in a statement Monday.

A representative for Spacey did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. His attorneys argued that the actor’s actions were not a substantial factor in the show’s losses.

The ruling came after a legal fight of more than three years and an eight-day evidentiary hearing that was kept secret from the public, along with the rest of the dispute.

Spacey appealed the decision to a panel of three more private arbitrators, who found for the plaintiffs, making the decision final, and public, on Monday.

“MRC stood its ground, pursued this case doggedly, and obtained the right result in the end,” plaintiff’s attorney Michael Kump said in a statement.

The 62-year-old Oscar winner’s career came to an abrupt halt late in 2017 as the #MeToo movement gained momentum.

Actor Anthony Rapp, who has appeared in “Rent” on Broadway and film as well as in “Star Trek: Discovery” on television, said Spacey made a sexual advance on him when he was 14 at a party in the 1980s.

At the time, Spacey issued a statement saying he didn’t remember the encounter but apologized.

Several other accusers followed. Some, including Rapp, have filed lawsuits.

Independent investigations found widespread sexual harassment of those who worked under him.

Spacey was fired or removed from several projects, most notably “House of Cards,” the Netflix political thriller where for five seasons he played lead character Frank Underwood, a power-hungry congressman who becomes president.

Trump’s ‘Our Journey Together’

scheduled for Dec. 7 release

NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s first post-White House book will be, like so much else about him, a departure from other former presidents.

Trump is publishing a hardcover collection of hundreds of photographs from his administration, featuring his own captions, some handwritten. “Our Journey Together” is scheduled for Dec. 7, but not through a traditional New York publisher. It will instead be released by a new company formed by son Donald Trump Jr. and campaign aide Sergio Gor, Winning Team Publishing.

“‘Our Journey Together’ features unforgettable moments from our time in Washington: building the Southern Border Wall; cutting America’s taxes; confirming almost 300 federal judges and 3 Supreme Court justices; rebuilding our military; creating Space Force; dealing with Kim Jong-Un, President Xi, President Putin, and many other world leaders,” the former president said in a statement Friday.

While Barack Obama, George W. Bush and other recent predecessors of Trump wrote memoirs and announced multi-million dollar deals with Penguin Random House and other publishing houses soon after leaving office, New York publishers have resisted working with Trump — especially after the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by some of his supporters.

Two Fox contributors quit,

citing ‘irresponsible’ voices

NEW YORK — Two writers who have been paid contributors to Fox News Channel have resigned, citing Tucker Carlson’s “Patriot Purge” documentary on last January’s U.S. Capitol insurrection as a last straw for them.

Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes, who put out a Substack newsletter on conservative news called The Dispatch, had worked for Fox since 2009.

“The voices of the responsible are being drowned out by the irresponsible,” they wrote on their site. They did not immediately return messages from the Associated Press on Monday.

Fox had no comment on their criticisms. Carlson told The New York Times that their departure was great news. “Our viewers will be grateful,” he said.

“Patriot Purge” is a three-part documentary released last month on the Fox Nation streaming service. In it, Carlson argues that Jan. 6 is being used as a pretext for persecution of conservative Americans, and compared it to how falsehoods were used in the lead-up to the Iraq War.

Goldberg and Hayes called the documentary a collection of incoherent conspiracy-mongering, which is “riddled with factual inaccuracies, half-truths, deceptive imagery and damning omissions.”

They said it was the most egregious example of a long-term trend of opinion hosts amplifying the false claims and bizarre narratives of former President Donald Trump, while Fox’s news side reports the truth.

“If a person with such a platform shares such misinformation loud enough and long enough, there are Americans who will believe — and act upon — it,” they wrote. “This isn’t theoretical. This is what actually happened on Jan. 6, 2021.”

12 to stand trial for Kardashian West jewel heist in Paris

PARIS — Twelve people will stand trial in Paris over a $10 million jewelry heist targeting Kim Kardashian West in 2016, authorities said Friday.

The reality TV star said she was tied up at gunpoint and locked in a bathroom after armed robbers forced their way into her rented Paris apartment during fashion week.

After five years of investigation, investigating judges have ordered the case sent to trial, a judicial official said Friday. The 12 suspects face a range of charges related to the theft. No trial date has been set, and the official would not provide further details.

Several suspects have been released from jail pending trial for health reasons, including 68-year-old Yunice Abbas, one of the five men accused of carrying out the heist itself, who published a book about it last year.

The alleged mastermind, Aomar Ait Khedache, wrote Kardashian West an apology letter from his prison cell, saying he regrets his actions and realizes the psychological damage he caused.

No phones, laptops allowed at Josh Duggar child porn trial

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A federal judge says no phones, laptops or recording devices will be allowed at next week’s child pornography trial for former reality TV star Josh Duggar.

U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued the order ahead of the trial, which is set to begin Tuesday in Fayetteville, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

Duggar, who appeared in TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” was charged in April with two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography. Duggar, 33, faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on each count if convicted.

TLC pulled “19 Kids and Counting” in 2015 over revelations that Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. Duggar’s parents said he confessed to the fondling and apologized.

By The Associated Press

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