House of Cards gets axe after Spacey allegation
Netflix says decision made months ago
House of Cards is coming to a close, with its upcoming sixth season set to be its last, reports Deadline.
T he cancellation announcement comes after actor Anthony Rapp revealed, on Sunday, that series star Kevin Spacey once made sexual advances toward him when he was 14 years old. Following the allegations, Spacey released a statement saying he could not remember the incident and that it would’ve been due to “deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour.” He then chose this moment to come out as gay, leading many on social media to accuse him of lumping sexual assault together with sexual identity, a stigma the gay community has been fighting for years.
The news made waves as only the latest of its kind after weeks of sexual assault allegations aimed at Harvey Weinstein and James Toback began to pile up.
While news of the show’s cancellation comes within 24 hours of the allegations and its fallout, according to TV Line, “the decision to bring HoC to an end was made months ago and was not in response to the allegations.”
House of Cards creator Beau Willimon, who left the series after its fourth season and worked closely with Spacey, released a statement on Monday on Twitter: “Anthony Rapp’s story is deeply troubling. During the time I worked with Kevin Spacey on House of Cards, I neither witnessed nor was aware of any inappropriate behaviour on set or off. That said, I take reports of such behaviour seriously and this is no exception. I feel for Mr. Rapp and I support his courage.”
The sixth season went into production earlier this month, and will première in 2018.