Words: Joanne Clark | Subbing: Bernadette Galbraith
Following allegations of sexual assault by several people, Netflix has announced that it will no longer be working with actor Kevin Spacey.
Spacey has acted in popular Netflix original series ‘House of Cards’ ever since its release in 2013. Acting alongside Robin Wright, it tells the story of attaining power in government in Washington DC.
When allegations surfaced, it was announced that the sixth season, due to be released in 2018, would be the last. Although it was said that this was decided before news broke of the allegations towards Spacey.
It was announced today that Netflix had fired Spacey and had suspended production of House of Cards, as well as further production of the film ‘Gore’, a Gore Vidal biopic that Spacey was producing and starring in. The company stated:
“Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey. We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show.”
Allegations towards Spacey began at the end of October when actor Anthony Rapp alleged in an interview with Buzzfeed News that, when he was 14 and Spacey was 26, Spacey made unwanted sexual advances towards him.
Spacey then issued a statement in response, stating that he didn’t remember this, but he “sincerely apologised”. In his response, he also came out as a gay man, something that caused a lot of anger among people who felt that his decision to come out at this point drew a link between homosexuality and sexual assault.
Since Anthony Rapp spoke out at the end of October, more people have come forward with allegations against Kevin Spacey, including employees of ‘House of Cards’.
Eight current or former House of Cards staff have accused Kevin Spacey of sexual harassment or assault, says @CNN. https://t.co/qKRytehUiB
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) November 2, 2017
MRC, otherwise known as Media Rights Capital, the studio that helped to create ‘House of Cards’, has also issued a statement:
“While we continue the ongoing investigation into the serious allegations concerning Kevin Spacey’s behavior on the set of ‘House of Cards,’ he has been suspended, effective immediately. MRC, in partnership with Netflix, will continue to evaluate a creative path forward for the program during the hiatus.”
MRC have also said that they have provided an anonymous hotline and sexual harassment legal advisors for the employees of ‘House of Cards’, and that they will be investigating all claims.