After 5 seasons, Kevin Spacey, 58, has been fired from his leading role on the Netflix political drama House of Cards. The announcement comes after several staffers on the hit show have come forward alleging instances of sexual harassment and sexual assault from Spacey. The allegations began with fellow actor Anthony Rapp, 46, coming forward on Oct. 29 to claim Spacey made an aggressive pass at him when he was only 14 years old. Spacey is just one of many Hollywood heavyweights to be facing allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Most notable in the avalanche of accusations is movie exec Harvey Weinstein, 65, whose downfall began a steady flow of claims from alleged victims.
Spacey’s firing came in the form of a press release from Netflix following a full investigation into the claims of sexual harassment on set: “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.” Head here see more pics of Spacey.
News of the Oscar-winning actor’s firing comes on the heels of reports that the creators of House of Cards might be considering killing off Spacey’s character Frank Underwood, according to Variety. Theoretically this would mean the final season of the show would focus solely on Claire Underwood, Robin Wright‘s, 51, character.
Media Rights Capital, which produces House of Cards has also issued a statement to HL: “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, effective immediately. MRC, in partnership with Netflix, will continue to evaluate a creative path forward for the program during the hiatus.”
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