Coming hot on the heels of the sexual assault allegations aimed at star and executive producer Kevin Spacey, Netflix has decided to axe its flagship series House of Cards, with the upcoming sixth season set to be its last.
“Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled by last night’s news concerning Kevin Spacey,” reads the official statement. “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.”
House of Cards has been enormously successful for Netflix since its premiere in 2013, garnering 52 Primetime Emmy nominations. Filming on the sixth season got underway earlier this month.
Last night, Spacey was accused by Star Trek: Discovery star Anthony Rapp of sexually assaulting him in 1986 when he was 14 years old. Spacey responded to the allegations by stating that he was “beyond horrified”, and had no recollection of the incident. He also revealing he was now “choosing to live as a gay man” – drawing criticism from the likes of GLAAD that he had attempted to use his coming out to deflect attention from the original sexual assault claims.
