David Giesbrecht/Netflix(NEW YORK) — Netflix, one of the studios behind House of Cards, is officially severing ties with the show’s star and executive producer, Kevin Spacey, the streaming service announced late Friday night.
“Netflix will not be involved with any further production of ‘House of Cards’ that includes Kevin Spacey,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. Netflix last week suspended production of the sixth and final season of the hit political drama, in the wake of escalating allegations against Spacey of inappropriate sexual conduct over the years.
Also, Netflix announced it won’t release the biopic Gore, about the late writer Gore Vidal, which Spacey produced and in which he starred. It was scheduled for release next year.
Late last month, actor Star Trek: Discovery Anthony Rapp told Buzzfeed that when he was 14, Spacey made a sexual advance on him. Spacey, who apologized to the actor with a controversial tweet in which he also came out as gay, has since become the target of other complaints from crew members on House of Cards, leading to it shuttering production. CNN also reports eight men have come forward, accusing Spacey of continual harassment and unwanted touching on the House of Cards set.
The U.K. newspaper The Guardian on Friday reported Scotland Yard is looking into allegations that an unnamed suspect — whom the tabloid The Sun alleges is Spacey — performed a sex act on another actor who had fallen asleep in Spacey’s London apartment in 2008. Spacey served as the Old Vic’s artistic director from 2004 to 2015. The organization released a statement Friday saying they were “deeply dismayed” by the allegations.
The ultimate fate of House of Cards remains undecided, though there are various unconfirmed reports production may continue with Spacey’s character, the devious President Frank Underwood, being written out of the show.
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