For nearly two decades between the mid-1990s and 2010s, Kevin Spacey was one of the most beloved and highest-paid actors in the world. Kevin won his first Academy Award, as a Supporting Actor, for 1995’s “The Usual Suspects.” He won his second Oscar, this time as Best Actor, for 1999’s “American Beauty.” He also starred in such classics as “Seven,” “L.A. Confidential,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “A Time to Kill,” and “Horrible Bosses.”
At his absolute career peak in the early 2000s, Kevin could easily earn $10 million to star in a major film and $5 million for a supporting role.
And then came Netflix. Fun fact: The entire concept of a “streaming service” was born because of Kevin Spacey. How so? Back around 2012, when Netflix was still primarily mailing DVDs to customers, the company wanted to get into the original content game. Instead of requesting a bunch of pitches from writers and creatives, the data-obsessed executives thought they might be able to reverse-engineer a hit show by looking at the company’s own customer usage data. Their data showed that Netflix customers liked political dramas, movies that starred Kevin Spacey, and films that were directed by David Fincher. So what did Netflix do? It hired Spacey and Fincher to create an American version of a British political thriller called “House of Cards.”
“House of Cards” almost single-handedly revolutionized the entertainment industry. It also made Kevin another massive fortune. Kevin made $500,000 per episode, but when his executive producer fees were included, Kevin made $20 million per season of the show.
By our count, at the peak of his career, Kevin Spacey’s net worth was north of $70 million.
Even with a few personal and legal controversies, that should have been a large enough fortune to last a lifetime. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. As Kevin revealed in a new interview with the Daily Telegraph, he is broke, effectively homeless, and living out of a suitcase…
(Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Millions In Debt?
Here are the key points from the recent Telegraph interview:
“The costs over these last seven years have been astronomical. I’ve had very little coming in and everything going out.” Spacey explained that after losing his longtime Baltimore home, “Everything is in storage, and I hope at some point, if things continue to improve, that I’ll be able to decide where I want to settle down again.“
For now, he says he drifts between temporary accommodations. “I’m living in hotels, I’m living in Airbnbs, I’m going where the work is. I literally have no home, that’s what I’m attempting to explain.“
As harsh as that reality may sound, believe it or not, Kevin’s finances may have actually improved somewhat since a year ago. Here’s how Kevin described his financial situation to Piers Morgan in June 2024:
Morgan: Are you facing bankruptcy?
Spacey: We’ve managed to sort of dodge it, at least as of today.
Morgan: How much money do you have?
Spacey: None… I still owe a lot of legal bills that I have not been.
Morgan: You’re actually in debt?
Spacey: Yes.
Morgan: Do you mind me asking how much you owe?
Spacey: It’s considerable… Many millions.
The Fall
Kevin Spacey’s dramatic downfall began in late 2017 when a wave of sexual assault allegations abruptly ended one of Hollywood’s most successful careers. In October 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of inappropriate behavior at a party in the mid-1980s, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was around 27. More men soon came forward with their own allegations. The timing overlapped with the rise of the #MeToo movement, and the industry responded instantly and decisively.
Spacey was scrubbed from the already completed film “All the Money in the World,” prompting producers to bring Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams back to re-shoot scenes that had previously featured Spacey. Considering what was happening with the #MeToo & #TimesUp movements at the time, it was awkwardly later exposed that Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million for his re-shooting work while Michelle was paid just $1,000.
Worst of all for Spacey’s finances, he was not only fired from his $20 million per season “House of Cards” gig, but he was also subsequently sued by the show’s production company, Media Rights Capital (MRC). MRC sued Kevin after it was revealed that he had allegedly acted inappropriately towards someone on the set of the show. In the lawsuit, MRC accused Kevin of breaching “provisions of both the Acting and Executive Producing Agreements that set standards for his workplace conduct, including by breaching MRC’s Harassment Policy.”
MRC’s lawsuit sought compensation FROM SPACEY PERSONALLY for the financial damages it incurred for having to scrap the entire sixth season after filming two episodes. Furthermore, MRC claimed in the scramble to right the ship, it only had enough time to produce eight episodes for the sixth season, five fewer than Netflix ordered. Therefore, MRC lost millions in licensing fees by not being able to deliver a full season.
In November 2021, Spacey was ordered to pay MRC $31 million in damages, and in August 2022, that judgment was upheld. The award was broken out as $29.5 million in compensatory damages plus another $1.5 million in legal fees and other costs.
Kevin’s MRC judgment eventually grew to $34 million, with interest and penalties. In a surprise twist, in February 2024, MRC agreed to forgive the debt in exchange for Spacey’s testimony on the production company’s behalf in a separate $150 million lawsuit it filed against the show’s two insurance companies. That lawsuit has not yet gone to trial.
Suffice it to say, the last seven years have not been easy for Kevin Spacey. I’m not saying he did not deserve some form of comeuppance… I’m just making a factual statement: The last seven years have not been easy for Kevin Spacey.
His reputation is gone. His career is gone. A year ago, his $6 million Baltimore townhouse was foreclosed, effectively rendering Kevin homeless today. As he confirmed in the Telegraph interview, he has no home, he has no money, and lives out of a suitcase, moving from hotel to hotel or AirBNB following whatever gig he can grab.
Asked to characterize his financial position, Spacey offered a blunt assessment: “Not great.“
