Spacey’s House of Cards collapses, no Emmy

Netflix says decision to end show not related to abuse charges against actor

New York, Oct. 31: Kevin Spacey won’t be getting an Emmy as announced earlier and his hugely successful political drama House of Cards is also set to end with the sixth season.

The developments come after claims by actor Anthony Rapp that Spacey had made unwanted sexual advance towards him when he was a minor.

“The International Academy has announced that in light of recent events it will not honour Kevin Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award,” the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences said in a tweet.

Though Netflix representatives told the New York Times their decision to end House of Cards — one of the network’s most successful shows that stars Spacey as a scheming politician who makes it to the White House — is unrelated to the scandal, they said they were “deeply troubled” by the allegations against the actor.

Spacey has been criticised for trying to divert attention from the accusations made by the Star Trek: Discovery actor by using his apology to come out as gay. In a statement, the Oscar-winner said he did not remember the incident but it “would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior”.

The streaming giant and company Media Rights Capital that produces the show issued a joint statement after Rapp went public with his claims that Spacey, 58, tried to sexually assault him when he was 14 in 1986. “In response to the revelations, executives from both of our companies arrived in Baltimore to meet with our cast and crew to ensure they continue to feel safe and supported,” the statement read. They added Spacey was “not working on set at this time.”

Spacey’s statement has also drawn the ire of the LGBTQ community, including the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, with activists saying his sexual orientation had nothing to do with the allegations against him and he should not have mixed the two. —

KEVIN SPACEY was to receive the International Emmy Founders Award which was due to be presented to the actor in a ceremony on November 20.