More fallout from allegations surrounding House of Cards actor, Kevin Spacey: Netflix has said it will no longer work with the actor at all.
In a statement given to the Verge yesterday, a Netflix spokesperson said: “Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey. We will continue to work with MRC [HoC production company Media Rights Capital] during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show. We have also decided we will not be moving forward with the release of the film Gore, which was in post-production, starring and produced by Kevin Spacey.”
It’s not clear what that means for the sixth season of House of Cards, for which production was underway at the time the allegation was made against Spacey, and given how central his character, congressman Frank Underwood, is to the show.
The Verge suggests producers are considering killing off Underwood or possibly moving to spin-off shows that focus on other characters.
Netflix severing ties with Spacey follows an account by actor Anthony Rapp, given to Buzzfeed last month, alleging that the older actor made a sexual advance towards him when Rapp was only 14 and Spacey was 26.
Spacey’s response to the allegation has been to say he does not “remember the encounter”, and also to say that: “If I did behave the way he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
But he also chose the same moment to publicly come out as gay — in what was widely criticized as an attempt to distract attention from Rapp’s accusation that he made sexual advances towards a minor.
At the end of last month Netflix said production on House of Cards had been suspended while it and the show’s production company reviewed the situation — and to “address any concerns of our cast and crew”.
Just prior to that it had also announced House of Cards would end after season six, saying it was “deeply troubled” by the allegations made against Spacey. Although TV industry press reported that the decision to end the show had been taken months before.