Netflix cancels 'House of Cards' after Kevin Spacey sexual harassment claim
And he could lose a further Netflix project too
Netflix has announced that its hit show House of Cards will end after its upcoming sixth season, amid a claim from actor Anthony Rapp that the show’s star Kevin Spacey was sexually inappropriate with him when he was a 14-year-old boy.
The decision comes a little over 12 hours after Star Trek Discovery actor Rapp claimed that Spacey picked him up, laid him down on a bed and climbed on top of him during a party at Spacey’s apartment in 1986, when Spacey was 26.
Spacey stars as Frank Underwood in the show which put Netflix on the map as creator of original programming when it was first broadcast back in February 2013.
Season 6 of House of Cards is currently being produced, and while Netflix and production company Media Rights Capital had been in discussions about finishing the show for some time, it is understood that the final decision was made yesterday after Rapp’s claim came to light.
Spacey has starred as Frank Underwood in House of Cards for five seasons
In a joint statement, Netflix and Media Rights Capital said last night: “Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled by last night’s news concerning Kevin Spacey.
“In response to last night’s revelations, executives from both of our companies arrived in Baltimore this afternoon to meet with our cast and crew to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported. As previously scheduled, Kevin Spacey is not working on set at this time.”
The incident Rapp describes is alleged to have happened when the pair were both working on Broadway. Rapp said that he was “aware that [Spacey] was trying to get with me sexually”.
Spacey issued a statement shortly afterwards claiming that he “did not remember the encounter”, and added: “If I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
Spacey also chose to use this statement as the time to come out as gay, something that has been heavily criticised as trying to deflect from his actions, and also painting gay men in a false and harmful light.
Anthony Rapp, who claims Spacey was sexually inappropriate with him when he was a 14-year-old boy
As well as House of Cards, there are Deadline report that another Spacey-led Netflix project, Gore, may also face extinction.
The film was set to see Spacey star as author Gore Vidal, and while no official decision has been made on it yet, reports are circulating that it could be canned.
Spoilers for Season 5 of House of Cards follow after this point
House of Cards Season 5 ended with Frank Underwood resigning from the Oval Office in disgrace, and his wife, Claire -played by Robin Wright - being named the first ever female President of the United States.
The 13-episode final season is expected to air sometime in mid-2018, and will wrap the show up for good.
(Images: Netflix)
