Actor Kevin Spacey has been ordered by a Los Angeles judge to pay around $31 million to MRC Entertainment, the producers of Netflix's hit series "House of Cards," after he was kicked off of the show for alleged sexual misconduct behind the scenes.

The order came down last year to pay MRC after claims of sexual misconduct on young crew members forced show leadership to push for his exit. Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana confirmed the award that had been previously ordered in October 2020.

Spacey denies the allegations and had filed an appeal to overturn the judgment.

The award ordered was for around $29.5 million in damages plus $1.5 million in costs and fees to be added on top of that, Variety reported.

Earlier this year, the BBC reported, Spacey's lawyers tried to have the $31 million award thrown out by saying, in his defense, what was called sexual misconduct on set was just some "sexual innuendos" or "innocent horseplay" which didn't violate MRC Entertainment's anti-harassment policy.

Judge Recana ruled on Thursday that Spacey's legal team failed "to demonstrate that this is even a close case." Therefore, Spacey will have to pay the award originally handed down in October.

MRC argued that Spacey owed them damages after they were forced to kick him off of the sixth season of the show, and the production company said they had to cut the season down from 13 episodes to eight.

Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly close to deciding on the name "Max" for their planned combination of the HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services.

The company plans to merge the two streaming services in the spring according to a report from CNBC.

The report says lawyers are currently vetting the name that executives with the company have chosen. The combined platform would contain content from brands including HBO, Discovery and DC Comics.

CNBC previously reported that executives from the company had been looking for a new name for the combined streaming services.

As The Verge reported, pricing for the new service has not been announced yet.

The company wants to increase their subscription base and improve profitability, while also choosing a name that doesn't overshadow the other branded content offerings.

LGBTQ representation on television is growing.

Advocacy group GLAAD reports it’s getting a boost mostly from streaming platforms.

GLAAD published its “Where We Are on TV” report this week.

It found that on traditional tv, broadcast during primetime, nearly 12% of characters are LGBTQ.

That’s an increase of 2.8% since 2021, marking a new record high since the group started tracking representation on television.

For the first time in the report’s history, lesbian characters make up the majority of LGBTQ characters on tv.

Racial diversity is also up.

The group added five new streaming services to its report, including Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Peacock.

This helped drive up the number of LBGTQ characters on streaming to a total of 358.

However, the group did not see improvement in all areas.

GLAAD reported it only found two tv characters living with HIV and they both appeared on one show – FX’s Pose.

This marks a decrease from 2021.

The report also mentions no network has created a show that features an LGBTQ-majority cast the way some cable programmers have.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The days of sharing your Netflix account with friends and extended family may be numbered. The streaming giant appears to be running a test cracking down on password sharing.

As first reported by The Streamable, a select number of Netflix users began receiving a message this week asking them to verify their accounts via email or text. If they can’t, they’re prompted to start their own account with a free 30-day trial.

“If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching,” the message reads, according to screenshots. It’s not yet clear if users need to be on the same IP address to be considered in the same household.

Earlier this week, some Netflix subscribers began to notice that it might be a bit harder to “borrow” someone’s password.https://t.co/ZN3GTECdKR pic.twitter.com/uMucB4C43l

— Michelle Manafy (@michellemanafy) March 12, 2021

Netflix has commented on the crackdown in a statement, saying, “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so.”

Although it’s commonplace now to share passwords with others, especially during the pandemic, Netflix’s terms of use do explicitly say its service and any of its content “are for personal use and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.”

Netflix has been the king of streaming for years now, but with more and more platforms popping up, customers are having to choose which services to keep paying for and the company is likely trying to retain its dominance in the market.

A survey conducted by research company Magid found about a third of subscribers to platforms like Netflix share their password with someone outside their household. With so many services to pay for, people often split the burden, each paying for a few and sharing their accounts with each other.

As for Netflix pricing, after a 30-day trial, you can pay $8.99 a month for the streamer’s “basic” plan, where only one screen can stream at any given time. The next plan, “standard,” costs $13.99 per month and Netflix can be streamed on two screens at a time. The company’s “premium” plan costs $17.99 a month and four screens can stream at the same time.