After firing Kevin Spacey from House of Cards, Netflix are now reviewing their options to get the hit show back on track.
Following teenage actor Anthony Rapp’s allegations of sexual abuse against the actor, Netflix announced yesterday it will no longer work with Spacey in any capacity.
In the statement Netflix said:
Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey.
We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show.
We have also decided we will not be moving forward with the release of the film Gore, which was in post-production, starring and produced by Kevin Spacey.
Last week Netflix pulled the plug on the popular show after its next season – which is due to hit the streaming service in mid-2018.
In an interview with BuzzFeed, Rapp recalled how Kevin Spacey invited him to his Manhattan apartment for a party in 1986 when the actor was only 14.
Spacey then proceeded to lay him on the bed and lie on top of the young boy, making a sexual advance.
According to Variety, Netflix are now discussing the future of the show without Kevin Spacey as the villainous Frank Underwood.
One scenario which is being considered, is moving the concentration away from Frank to his equally manipulative wife Claire Underwood, magnificently played by a sharp and witty Robin Wright – who many would argue is the real star of the show.
To get rid off their problem in Spacey, the show’s producers, Media Rights Capital, are also discussing killing off his character – a main character – during the final sixth season.
Since CNN published a report describing how Spacey made the House of Cards set a ‘toxic’ work environment through a pattern of sexual harassment towards the crew, the producers of the show have been increasingly eager to move the focus away from his character during the final season.
They wrote:
All eight people, each of whom spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional repercussions for speaking out, described Spacey’s behaviour as ‘predatory’, saying it included non-consensual touching and crude comments and targeted production staffers who were typically young and male.
Unwilling to cancel the show because the producers did not want to put the 300 cast and crew members out of work, cameras have just started rolling – there is still room to safely write out Spacey’s character.
The idea of replacing Frank with Claire as the main focus gathered momentum online when actress Jessica Chastain shared her support of it on Twitter:
Chastain wrote:
Can #RobinWright just be the lead of @HouseofCards now? We’re ready for it!
With producers poring over Spacey’s contract, we’ll have to wait and see how they move on with the show in its final season.
Production was suspended on Tuesday – two days after Rapp made his initial allegations.
Since then, Spacey has been dropped as a client by his agency and his publicist.
Scotland Yard have also opened an investigation into the actor after another male actor, in London, made a claim he was sexually assaulted.
