Netflix’s House of Cards has been left in a state of disarray amid the damning allegations leveled against Kevin Spacey.
The Frank Underwood actor was thrust into the eye of a ferocious media storm late last month when Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey, then 26, of making a sexual advance toward him when he was only 14. Soon after that, the floodgates opened, leaving Netflix with little choice but to formally dismiss Kevin Spacey from the House of Cards camp.
His absence seemingly leaves the door open for multiple spinoffs – spinoffs that could potentially shift the focus over to Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) and/or Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly) – but a new report from Blast warns that the inevitable transition may not be so simple after all. In fact, House of Cards may not be able to continue without Kevin Spacey.
Sources close to the outlet suggest that the actor never had a morality clause written into his contract, meaning he’s unable to be suspended or terminated from the series unless he becomes “unavailable” or “incapacitated.” Spacey is said to be seeking “evaluation and treatment” in Arizona, far from the media, so it remains to be seen how this potential loophole affects the show’s future.
In a statement to Blast, House of Cards production company Media Rights Capital noted:
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. As the producer of the show, creating and maintaining a safe working environment for our cast and crew has always been our top priority.
In related news, Kevin Spacey’s All the Money in the World has been pulled from the American Film Institute’s AFI Fest, and we can’t imagine the Ridley Scott drama will be the last project to be affected by this ongoing scandal. House of Cards, meanwhile, is still targeting a sixth and final season.
