Actor Kevin Spacey has been ordered to pay nearly $31 million in damages to production company MRC for alleged sexual misconduct behind the scenes of the Netflix series House of Cards.
The order from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana confirmed an award previously handed down by an arbitrator in October, 2020.
Spacey, who was an executive producer on the series and played president Frank Underwood, was dropped from both roles just days after the allegations came to light in 2017.
Spacey was first accused of misconduct by actor Anthony Rapp in a Buzzfeed story alleging that Spacey had made a sexual advance on him in Spacey’s apartment in 1986, when Rapp was 14. Production on the show was suspended two days later.
Two days after that, CNN reported that Spacey created a “toxic” work environment on set, making overtly crude comments and touching young male staffers without consent.
The allegations of groping prompted an MRC internal investigation.
MRC argued that the two-time Oscar-winning actor owed them millions in lost profits because his misconduct forced them to remove Spacey from House of Card’s sixth season and cut the show’s episode order from thirteen to eight episodes. The arbitrator ruled in MRC’s favor, finding Spacey’s behavior violated the production company’s sexual harassment policy with respect to five House of Cards crew members, and constituted a material breach of his agreements as an actor and executive producer.
Earlier this year, Spacey’s attorneys, Stephen G. Larson and Jonathan E. Phillips, sued to throw out the multi-million dollar judgement, arguing, “The truth is that while Spacey participated in a pervasive on-set culture that was filled with sexual innuendoes, jokes, and innocent horseplay, he never sexually harassed anyone. In fact, as the evidence established and the Arbitrator recognized in the Award, the few times Spacey was told that his conduct made someone feel uncomfortable or was in any way unwanted, he stopped.”
In May, Spacey was charged by the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service with four counts of sexual assault and one count of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.” The alleged incidents took place in London and Gloucestershire between 2005 and 2013.
Spacey, 62, stars in the upcoming feature Peter Five Eight — his first major role in five years — playing “a charismatic man in black.”
The tagline for the film is, “The guilty always pay the price.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) took the opportunity at an awards ceremony Wednesday to slam his anti-LGBTQ Florida counterpart Ron DeSantis (R) in their continuing stealth bids for president in 2024.
Newsom was in Washington, D.C. accepting the 2022 Frank Newman Award for State Innovation from the Education Commission of the States.
The governor compared Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law – also known as the Don’t Say Gay law – to California’s failed Briggs Initiative in 1978, which would have banned LGBTQ teachers from public school classrooms.
“Teachers were under assault, because, God forbid, teachers were homosexual,” Newsom recounted.
The so-called Briggs Initiative, a statewide ballot referendum sponsored by conservative Orange County state Sen. John Briggs (R), provided that public school teachers and staff be fired if an employee was found to have engaged in either “public homosexual activity” or “public homosexual conduct,” defined as “the advocating, soliciting, imposing, encouraging or promoting of private or public homosexual activity directed at, or likely to come to the attention of, schoolchildren and/or other employees.”
“Somehow, people were presupposing they were ‘grooming’ our kids. That was in the 1970s,” Newsom said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signing the Don’t Say Gay bill Screenshot/Facebook
Calling out DeSantis spokesperson Christina Pushaw, Newsom said, “Press secretary for the governor of one of our largest states” referred to those who oppose the Don’t Say Gay law “in Florida as ‘groomers.’ I think she was promoted, not fired.”
“Ronald Reagan himself in 1978 wrote an op-ed saying something that needs to be said today,” Newsom continued. “‘You can’t get gay,’ he said. He used the word homosexual. ‘You can’t catch gay like you can the measles.’”
“I don’t want to sugarcoat it,” Newsom warned. “Education is under assault in the United States of America. And we have an obligation, a moral and ethical obligation, to call out what is going on as it relates to the suppression of free speech.”
“We’re going to share the future whether we like it or not. But we can’t ‘other’ our differences. We can’t create false separateness that doesn’t exist. And we have to call out those who have a zest for demonization.”
“Forgive me in advance,” Newsom said as he accepted the award on stage. “You brought up a politician.”
In the Connecticut hometown of Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale, a group of mothers including a “Christian taxpayer” is up in arms over the town library’s Pride book display and are demanding the offending materials be burned.
Booth & Dimock Memorial Library Director Margaret Khan said the incident happened June 22, when one of the mothers removed the books from the display and the group carried them to the front desk to complain.
Khan said the women responded with “hateful language” and told her the books in the display should be burned.
According to Khan, the library’s collection is evaluated based on specific criteria, including relevance and representation, and materials are evaluated by respected sources, including Library Journal and The New York Times Book Review, according to the Journal Inquirer.
Khan told the group they needed to follow library procedure and file a formal “request for reconsideration,” explaining their concerns in writing.
While library privacy guidelines proscribe naming the complainants, Khan did reveal the woman who filled out the request identified herself on the form only as a “Christian taxpayer.” It was unclear if the patron is a resident of Coventry.
In a statement, Town Council Chairwoman Lisa Thomas said, “I stand by our library and their mission to serve each individual in our community.”
“The hostile incident at our public library is part of a disturbing trend across the country. If an adult does not want their child to have access to certain reading materials or other resources, it is up to that adult to guide their child’s choices. Our library is a critical resource to our community to provide information, programming, and other supports. Public libraries embrace the needs of all people in the community.”
While police were not called during the incident, Town Manager John Elsesser said if something similar happens again, library staff should do so.
The uproar in Coventry occurred a week before a similar incident in nearby Colchester, Connecticut when a resident demanded the book Who is RuPaul? be removed from the library’s collection because it contained a “sexually provocative” image. A town selectman agreed the book should be deemed inappropriate for the children’s section.
Coventry’s hometown hero Hale, who spied for the Americans and was executed by the British, was the grandson of Puritan pastor John Hale, a prominent figure in the Salem witch trials.
As voters head to the polls today for primaries in 5 states and the District of Columbia, a record number of LGBTQ candidates for federal office are bringing the prospect of equal representation in Washington ever closer to reality.
A record 104 LGBTQ candidates have mounted campaigns for House or Senate seats this year, with 57 candidates still in the running.
Currently, 11 out LGBTQ lawmakers serve in Congress, including Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), plus nine members of the House, all running for reelection.
Nine more LGBTQ candidates for House seats are in competitive races. Wins in their states would bring total LGBTQ representation in the House to 4%, or about half of the estimated population of LGBTQ people in the US.
Those nine include 4 women, 2 Latinx candidates, and an LGBTQ immigrant.
Here’s a breakdown:
In Vermont, state senator Becca Balint is facing off against three other Democrats in the August 9 primary for a shot at an open seat representing Vermont’s At-Large Congressional District. Balint is the first woman and first out gay person to serve as the Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore, and would be the first out LGBTQ person and the first woman elected to Congress from Vermont.
In North Carolina, County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, won the Democratic primary handily and faces off against Republican Chuck Edwards for a seat currently occupied by primary loser Madison Cawthorn.
Beach-Ferrara is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and the founding Executive Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE) and would be the first out LGBTQ person elected to any federal position from North Carolina.
In Arizona, state representative Daniel Hernandez faces off against two other candidates in the Democratic primary in August for an open seat in Arizona’s 6th congressional district.
Hernandez attended the University of Arizona and interned for then-Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, whom he was with the day she was shot; he was the first to administer first aid to the Congresswoman before the EMTs arrived. He was named a national hero by President Obama.
Hernandez would be the second Latinx out LGBTQ member of Congress.
In New York, former Congressional aide and businessman Robert Zimmerman will face off against five other Democrats for an open seat in the August 23 primary in Long Island’s 3rd congressional district.
Zimmerman has been honored by the LGBTQ Network of Long Island and Queens and the Long Island Progressive Coalition, in addition to serving as President of Great Neck B’nai B’rith and the American Jewish Congress Long Island Division.
The Empire State’s congressional delegation currently includes three LGBTQ members: Ritchie Torres, the first out LGBTQ Afro-Latinx person elected to the U.S. Congress; Mondaire Jones, one of the first two Black gay men, along with Torres, elected to Congress; and Sean Patrick Maloney.
Zimmerman would be the first out LGBTQ member of Congress from Long Island.
In California, two-term Long Beach mayor Robert Garcia is running for an open seat to represent the city in Congress from California’s 42nd district. Garcia was re-elected to a second term as mayor by almost 80% of the vote in 2018.
Garcia immigrated to the United States at age 5 and holds an M.A. from the University of Southern California and an Ed.D. in Higher Education from Cal State Long Beach, where he also earned his B.A. in Communications. He won an open primary in June with 46% of the vote, 20 points higher than his general election opponent for the seat, Republican John Briscoe.
Garcia would be the first out LGBTQ immigrant elected to Congress.
Also in California, former federal prosecutor Will Rollins is running to represent Riverside County in the state’s 41st district against Republican Congressman Ken Calvert in the 42nd district. Rollins won the Democratic primary June 7.
Rollins earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth in 2007 and a law degree from Columbia Law School in 2012. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he helped prosecute some of the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.
Rollins’ election would make him the second out gay man from California to serve in congress, after incumbent Mark Takano, from the same district; Takano is running in 2022 for a seat in the state’s 39th following re-districting.
In Oregon, Jamie McLeod-Skinner is running as the Democratic nominee for an open seat representing the state’s 5th district, after winning a primary in May 15 points ahead of her opponent. She faces Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the general.
McLeod-Skinner currently serves as an elected board member of the Jefferson County Education Service District. This is her second run at Congress, after a change-making grassroots campaign for Oregon’s second district in 2018, resulting in the largest voter swing (+26) of all congressional races that year.
McLeod-Skinner would be Oregon’s first out LGBTQ member of Congress.
In Maryland, former Assembly member Heather Mizeur is running to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District. Mizeur faces one other opponent in Maryland’s July primary to face off against Republican incumbent Andrew Harris in the general.
In the Maryland Assembly, Mizeur took a leading role in passing marriage equality, banning fracking, enacting criminal justice reforms, and expanding health insurance for children, women, and families.
Mizeur would be the first out LGBTQ member of Congress from the state.
In Illinois, popular TV meteorologist Eric Sorensen is running against five opponents in the Democratic primary for an open seat to represent the state’s 17th congressional district.
Sorenson says he was pushed out of his first television gig in Texas, with a copy of his contract sitting on his boss’s desk and the “morals clause” highlighted.
Sorenson would be the first out LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Illinois.
Students at a Washington state high school Monday staged a walk-out in solidarity with a trans student, who was beaten in the school’s hallways the week before.
The walk-out prompted a threat by another student “to aim a machine gun” at the rallying students, according to Kalama police. The Kalama Middle and High Schools, which share a campus, were put into lockdown.
Last week, a transgender student was assaulted in the school’s halls just as students were leaving for the day.
Witnesses say another student repeatedly kicked the transgender student, who is a boy, with steel-toe boots, while yelling homophobic and transphobic slurs.
“The student had been on the ground, begging him to stop and he just kept going,” said Katrina Rick-Mertens, a sophomore at the school and rally organizer.
The victim was subsequently treated in hospital and has returned to class, according to the school district.
At Monday’s walkout, the boy threatening “to aim a machine gun” at protesters made the comment to another student not affiliated with the protest. That student, who says he didn’t see a gun, reported the comments to school officials.
Police say they located the student and took him into custody.
The attack, walkout, and subsequent threats followed reported inaction by the school against what students say is the growing influence of hate groups. Students have posted Nazi imagery in the school, which is just across the state border from Portland, and on social media.
According to parent Melissa Cierley, bullying at the high school is endemic.
“There’s a certain population that seems to be able to get away with whatever they want,” she said.
Her daughter Lillie says she’s been the victim of sexually harassing insults and threats, and things thrown at her like books, staplers, or “anything they can get their hands on.”
Cierley and Rick-Martens say while they tell school administrators about the bullying, they’re never told about anything being done about the incidents, only to see the bullying continue.
“It’s just really heartbreaking to not be taken seriously,” Cierley says.
“You’d think that after so many students go to them about hate speech and going to them that we need these bullies to stop, that they would do something. We shouldn’t have to come to this point to rally together for them to listen to us,” Rick-Mertens said.
“If students are saying that they feel like this, they feel like there is a problem, then there is truth to that,” Kalama School District Communications Manager Nick Shanmac said. “As a school, as a district, we need to be listening.”
Rick-Mertens posted on Instagram after the rally: “Remember, staying silent only helps the oppressor and never the victim. Use your voice for good.”
Anti-LGBTQ extremist Republican state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R) of Arizona has found a fellow traveler across state lines in Oklahoma: GOP state senate candidate Jarrin Jackson, who just released a video where he called gay men “the most disgusting, despicable, stupid thing ever.”
It’s a match made in ultra-MAGA heaven.
“I endorse @JarrinJackson for State Senate in Oklahoma,” Rogers tweeted Monday. “Jarrin Jackson is a strong proponent of forensic audits… will secure our borders, protect our guns and defend children from the evil groomers.”
I endorse @JarrinJackson for State Senate in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is a deep red state and needs a fighter like Jarrin in office. Jarrin is a West Point graduate and an Afghanistan combat veteran. As a former infantry officer, he has the mentality for what is needed in (1/3) pic.twitter.com/W9Suq9Oaqp
Jackson, who describes himself as an “American Patriot, saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ,” recently ranted about Pride Month in a video post: “Straight dudes find it disgusting whenever they see other dudes kissing. It is gross. Being gay is gay. It’s the most disgusting, despicable, stupid thing ever.”
In Arizona, Rogers’ agenda has focused on promoting election conspiracy theories and anti-trans legislation.
The first-term state senator proposed a bill to prohibit medical procedures that affirm gender identity for trans children. Health professionals would face a Class 4 felony mandating prison time. Another bill would require school employees to out transgender youth to their parents and ban health professionals from prescribing puberty blockers for them. A third bill introduced by Rogers would ban transgender girls from participating in school sports.
Rogers has also suggested we start calling Superman “Thooperman” – a gay lisp joke – when Clark Kent’s son was depicted as bisexual in a comic book.
Jackson was quick to celebrate the endorsement.
“Thank you, Senator Rogers. It is a true honor to have your endorsement. Nobody fights harder for #ElectionIntegrity. You inspire me. Amen.”
Jackson grabbed headlines in March when he shot up a printer disguised as a Dominion voting machine for a campaign ad. The machines have been central to election conspiracy theories.
This is Jackson’s third run for office. In 2016 and 2018, he ran in Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District for the U.S. House of Representatives, but lost both Republican primaries.
The Army vet and sometime pastor regularly rails against “Godless commies” and says he wants to “shoot them in the face.” Military tribunals should send communists to “burn forever in a lake of fire.”
Oklahoma has produced some of the most vociferously anti-LGBTQ Republican politicians in the nation. Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed a law last month that bans transgender girls from participating in school sports while surrounded by cisgender girls as a trans woman stood outside his office protesting.
