Netflix severs ties with Spacey; what’s next for ‘House of Cards’?
The fall from grace has been swift for actor Kevin Spacey.
Less than a week after he publicly addressed allegations of sexual misconduct, the actor has been cut off from his most recent, highprofile projects.
“Netflix will not be involved with any further production of ‘House of Cards’ that includes Kevin Spacey,” the streaming service said in a statement Saturday.
Spacey also starred in the movie “Gore” about writer Gore Vidal. Netflix announced it wouldn’t be releasing the film, which was in postproduction.
In a story published by BuzzFeed Oct. 29, actor Anthony Rapp publicly accused Spacey of making sexual advances when Rapp was just 14, and Spacey would have been 26. Spacey said he didn’t recall the incident but said he was “beyond horrified” by the story and apologized “if I did behave as (Rapp) describes.” In that same statement, released hours after the BuzzFeed story, Spacey also came out as gay, drawing criticism from those who said he was conflating assaulting a minor with homosexuality.
Since then, more allegations of sexual harassment and assault — some anonymous — have become public. But Spacey has remained silent, with a representative telling media outlets that he was “taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment.” (His publicist dropped him as a client, the Los Angeles Times reported.)
Production company Media Rights Capital confirmed in a statement that it was involved in an ongoing investigation into “serious allegations” about Spacey’s behavior on the “House of Cards” set. MRC and Netflix “will continue to evaluate a creative path forward for the program during the hiatus,” the company statement added.
While “House of Cards” hasn’t been as critically acclaimed for its later seasons, it is a landmark series for Netflix. During the course of its five-season run, Spacey and Robin Wright each won a Golden Globe and received five Emmy nominations apiece for their portrayals of Frank and Claire Underwood.
Frank Underwood also became a cultural phenomenon. Obama administration officials appeared in a spoof video with the fictional president during the 2013 White House correspondents’ dinner, and former President Barack Obama himself impersonated the Spacey character in a 2015 April Fools’ Day video.
Widely credited with putting the streaming service on the map for original content, “House of Cards” debuted in 2013 as Netflix’s first original drama series. Since then, Netflix has released other acclaimed original series, such as “Orange is the New Black,” “The Crown” and “Stranger Things.”