Kevin Spacey says he put Netflix ‘on the map’ and attacks platform for firing him
The actor Kevin Spacey has claimed credit for putting Netflix “on the map” and criticized the streaming platform for firing him from its show House of Cards over claims of sexual assault, some of which resulted in an acquittal during a summertime trial in the UK.
“It is bizarre that they decided to publicly cut ties with me on allegations alone – allegations that have now been proven false,” Spacey said on Sunday in a Christmas Eve interview with Tucker Carlson on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Because I don’t think there’s any question Netflix exists because of me.
“I put them on the map, and they tried to put me in the ground.”
The remarks from Spacey about Netflix’s handling of him appeared to be some of his most pointed on the topic to date. As he has done in other videos published around Christmas in recent years, he made those comments – along with others – while in character as the House of Cards protagonist Frank Underwood, who in the oncepopular show rises from Congress to the presidency through shady means, including murder.
Spacey in July was found not guilty of sexually assaulting four men in one of the UK’s highest-profile trials related to the #MeToo social justice movement. Last year in New York, Spacey also secured a judgment which found that he did not molest his fellow actor Anthony Rapp when the latter was a teenager despite accusations to the contrary.
But more than a dozen men have accused Spacey, 64, of sexual misconduct, among them some who have alleged assault.
Netflix dismissed Spacey from House of Cards in 2017 shortly after he apologized to Rapp, who had just gone public with his allegations at the time. House of Cards was then entering its sixth and final season, which proceeded with Spacey’s Underwood character having been written out.
The streaming platform also canceled a biopic starring Spacey that was based on the life of writer Gore Vidal.
Carlson, who this year was fired himself from hosting a show at the politically conservative Fox News network, said to Spacey: “They actually tried to kill you.”
“Yes,” Spacey replied. “But, here we are, Tucker – bigger than ever.”
Netflix did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Spacey’s comments.
Carlson asked Spacey if he believed “legacy media” had any role in the fallout he experienced from the accusations confronting him.
“Look, I think they’re doing their best to stay relevant,” said Spacey, who previously won two Oscars and a Tony award.
After his UK acquittal, Spacey performed a brief scene by William Shakespeare at a theater in Oxford as part of a lecture honoring the conservative philosopher Roger Scruton. His first film since was Control, which was described by Variety as a “Welsh microbudget thriller” and got two of five stars in a Guardian review.
Variety reported in October that London’s Prince Charles Cinema canceled Control’s world premiere after becoming aware of Spacey’s role in the film.