Was Kevin Spacey incapacitated by a dangerous “mental illness” when he was suspended from “House of Cards” in 2017 and ultimately written out of the Netflix hit? Or was he fired, because those responsible feared reputational damage in view of the gathering #MeToo storm “terror”?
That question was put to jurors Thursday after closing arguments that concluded a three-week civil trial in Santa Monica, California. Starting Monday, the jury will deliberate in a case that pits the series’ production company, Media Rights Capital (MRC), against Fireman’s Fund, the insurer that rejected MRC’s multi-million dollar claim. The policy only took effect if an “illness” prevented Spacey from fulfilling his Emmy-nominated role as politician Frank Underwood.
The dispute centers on Spacey’s testimony last week and his medical records, which show that he was formally diagnosed with “sexually compulsive behavior” when he was released from an inpatient treatment program at Meadows Rehabilitation Hospital in Arizona on December 16, 2017. MRC’s lawyers argued that the diagnosis, as well as Spacey’s years-long refusal to release his medical records, showed he was unable to return. Two doctors who examined Spacey in 2025 confirmed the diagnosis, the lawyers said.
Pleas in civil proceedings
“Mr. Spacey was ill, and his illness necessarily prevented him from fulfilling his obligations,” Adam Zahl, a lawyer for the studio, told jurors Thursday. The lawyer, who repeatedly described Spacey’s diagnosis as a “mental illness,” asked the jury to award MRC $29.5 million in damages for production stops and script revisions.
When it was his turn, a lawyer for Fireman’s Fund claimed that Spacey was effectively fired before his formal diagnosis was even known – the real reason for the firing was fear of “reputational damage,” which was not covered by the policy. Zahl countered in his closing argument: A Fireman’s Fund claims adjuster was involved in an email exchange on November 2, 2017, in which “articles about sex addiction” were shared as “research material” for MRC’s expected claim.
“Yes, PR was absolutely an issue, but there were other concerns – like the safety of people on set,” argued Zahl, describing MRC’s considerations. “Mr. Spacey could not be brought back because he posed an ongoing risk to the cast and crew of House of Cards. … MRC would have exposed itself to massive liability if it had brought Mr. Spacey back to the set.”
Fire and reputational damage
Leon Gladstone, Fireman’s Fund’s attorney, countered that his client’s insurance policy would only apply if Spacey was actually incapacitated and unable to work – a threshold he said was not met. “The root cause of the harm was conduct that became public, conduct that was covered up, conduct that caused Netflix to pull the plug, conduct that MRC rushed to judgment on,” Gladstone said.
After opening his plea with a “House of Cards” promotional image of the U.S. Capitol projected on the courtroom screens, Gladstone referred to an alleged incident during the show’s first season in 2012. As the jury learned during the trial, a production assistant had accused Spacey that year of making a lewd comment and pulling on his belt. The producers hired a lawyer and reviewed the complaint internally, but kept it under wraps and continued the series, Gladstone said. He argued that those in charge took a different tack in 2017 and fired Spacey because “the horror they felt” was a “firestorm of really bad publicity.” He highlighted an internal company email from Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos dated August 2, 2017, which said: “There is no scenario in which Kevin Spacey will appear in any version of a final season of the series.”
“The hammer falls on Spacey that day,” Gladstone argued on Thursday. The goal was “damage limitation”. The “trigger of the policy,” however, was that Spacey should have been “incapacitated” and “unable to work,” he argued.
The rise of #MeToo
Spacey’s crash began just weeks after the New York Times on October 5, 2017, published a sensational investigation documenting a pattern of sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein – an article that is widely credited with sparking the #MeToo movement. As similar allegations against other celebrities followed, actor Anthony Rapp came forward in an October 29, 2017 BuzzFeed article, claiming that Spacey made a sexual advance on him in 1986, when Rapp was just 14 years old. A few days later, CNN reported on allegations from eight anonymous “House of Cards” crew members who accused Spacey of “predatory” behavior – including incidents in which he allegedly initiated a handshake and pulled the person’s hand toward his crotch.
At a 2022 civil trial in federal court in Manhattan, a jury found there was insufficient evidence to hold Spacey liable for Rapp’s allegations. In 2023, Spacey was acquitted in London of sexual assault allegations against four men. An arbitrator later found Spacey liable and ordered him to pay MRC $31 million. A three-judge appeals panel upheld the verdict, after which Spacey reached a settlement with MRC. The $31 million payment was reduced to $1 million as part of a settlement in which Spacey agreed to release his medical records and testify in the insurance lawsuit. The medical records were handed over in 2024.
“How can medical records even play a role here, seven years later [Spacey] was suspended?” Gladstone argued on Thursday. “You couldn’t determine the main or decisive cause [für die Entlassung] have been. That ship left long ago.”
Spacey’s statement and diagnosis
Gladstone argued that Spacey was not a threat to anyone and could have returned for the conclusion of season six. He said Spacey went to the Meadows Clinic voluntarily because he was struggling amid the turmoil surrounding his public coming out and criticized the diagnostic process at the rehab facility. “For them, every patient is an addict,” he said. “And if you contradict the diagnosis, you’re stuck in denial.”
He said Spacey went to the Meadows because “he was struggling with his poorly planned coming out” – a reference to Spacey’s response to the BuzzFeed article. In his October 2017 statement, Spacey apologized to Rapp, said he didn’t remember the alleged incident and came out as gay.
“He comes out in the most clumsy way possible, and the community just turns against him,” Gladstone argued. The lawyer suggested that doctors at the Meadows botched Spacey’s treatment because their program was focused on addictions.
Spacey on the witness stand
Testifying on March 10, Spacey said his goal in entering the Meadows was to “address sexual behavior and boundaries” at a time when his “life felt like it was collapsing.” He didn’t know whether he had “a medical illness or condition,” but there were “a lot of questions,” he told jurors. “I was trying to figure out where I went wrong and whether I could make sure I never put myself in a situation again where someone would question my motives,” he testified.
Zahl then asked Spacey to read a doctor’s note from his medical records. “The patient will accept responsibility for the negative impact of his problematic sexual behavior on himself and others,” the document said. Spacey looked visibly irritated.
“I continue to work on taking responsibility when I didn’t do it right, but that’s typical of the files – there’s a lot of gibberish there,” Spacey told the jury. “I don’t speak like that. And I don’t recognize that as something I might have said.”
Disputed medical records
Other medical notes listed goals such as improving Spacey’s “ability to moderate several addictive or problematic behaviors” and addressing “sexual behavior and boundaries.” Spacey said he agreed that “boundaries are an important thing to recognize” and that he “didn’t always correctly gauge the mood of the room” – but denied telling doctors that one of his “problem behaviors” was “touching in public without permission.”
“I can tell you that there are comments all over the medical records that are attributed to me that I never said,” he testified, his voice rising. He said doctors’ progress notes contained obvious inaccuracies. “They assume that I have a British accent, that I have a wife,” said the unmarried, openly gay actor. “They’re dealing with 29 other men. I have no idea how they take notes. All I’m saying is: That’s not something I said because it’s not something I did.”
In his closing argument, Zahl said Spacey’s denials in the witness chair showed that he continues to pose a danger to others. He reminded the jury that a psychiatrist who testified at the trial had stated that “denial is a core feature of sexual obsessive-compulsive disorder” and “the hallmark of the disorder.”
Comparisons and allegations in London
Zahl also noted that at the time of his testimony, Spacey was still facing litigation in the United Kingdom. On Thursday, the BBC reported that Spacey had reached out-of-court settlements with three men who accused him of sexual misconduct – several of the allegations related to his time as artistic director of the Old Vic Theater in London from 2004 to 2013. The settlements came as Spacey headed towards a civil trial in London’s High Court.
In his final words to the jury, Zahl attempted to portray Spacey as a perpetrator with a recurring pattern. He said the arbitrator who initially found Spacey liable for the $31 million payment to MRC found several of Spacey’s accusers credible. “Spacey couldn’t be brought back on set 45 days after he left, or a year after that, and work in a professional manner,” he said. “Spacey confirmed in his first days at the Meadows that he periodically used his position of power to take advantage of another person or to engage in sexual acts – from employer to employee – that he periodically seduced people who worked for him.”
Zahl accused Fireman’s Fund of being “on Spacey’s side.” The lawyer added: “You deny the claim and we ask that you hold Fireman’s Fund accountable for the insurance they sold to MRC.”
