Netflix’s House of Cards is folding amid damning allegations made against its principal star, Kevin Spacey.
The online streamer announced today that its prized political series will come to an end with a sixth and final season in 2018, though multiple sources have since confirmed that this cancellation wasn’t prompted by Anthony Rapp’s accusations; rather, Netflix had reportedly ironed out the finer details of HoC‘s swan song months ago. The timing is, of course, unfortunate for Spacey, who became embroiled in a “deeply troubling” sexual assault scandal this past weekend.
The levee initially broke late last night when Anthony Rapp (Star Trek: Discovery) accused the House of Cards stalwart, then 26, of making a sexual advance toward him when he was 14. “I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually,” Rapp said of the 1986 incident, which reportedly occurred the night he attended a party in Spacey’s NYC apartment.
Once the floodgates opened, House of Cards creator and erstwhile showrunner Beau Willimon admitted that he neither witnessed nor was aware of any foul play from Spacey, but still condemned the series mainstay for his actions:
Anthony Rapp’s story is deeply troubling. During the time I worked with Kevin on House of Cards I neither witnessed nor was aware of any inappropriate behavior on set or off. That said, I take reports of such behavior seriously, and this is no exception. I feel for Mr. Rapp and support his courage.
Meanwhile, Netflix has also commented on the allegations, with the company saying the following earlier today:
“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.”
Elsewhere, the actor’s official statement from last night drew criticism for conflating sexuality with inappropriate behavior, with the LGBT community, in particular, questioning the timing of his decision to come out as gay.
Here’s an extract of Spacey’s dubious response:
I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.
House of Cards‘ sixth and final season, meanwhile, has now been slated to premiere via Netflix in 2018.