‘House of Cards’ Production Halted After Spacey Allegations

Erin S. Medley October 31, 2017, 9:46 pm

House of Cards - Robin Wright, Kevin Spacey - Season 5 — David Giesbrecht/Netflix

Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey in *House of Cards* Season 5.

Production on House of Cards‘s sixth and final season was halted Tuesday amid sexual abuse allegations against star Kevin Spacey.

On Monday, online distributor Netflix and Media Rights Capital, an independent film and television studio, announced that the sixth season of Emmy-acclaimed political drama would be the last. Season 6 was expected to consist of 13 episodes and debut mid-2018 on Netflix.

The companies wrote in a statement: “MRC and Netflix have decided to suspend production on House of Cards Season 6, until further notice, to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew.”

Netflix and MRC executives arrived Monday in the Baltimore, where the series is filmed, “to meet with our cast and crew to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported” after the allegations.

Spacey, who plays former President Francis Underwood in the Netflix series, was not scheduled to be on set Monday.

On Monday, he issued an apology on Twitter after Anthony Rapp said Spacey made sexual advances toward him at a party more than three decades ago when the Star Trek: Discovery actor was 14. Spacey said he didn’t remember the incident but acknowledged “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior”.

On Sunday, Rapp told BuzzFeed that he decided to come forward after many women reported sexual harassment and abuse in the entertainment industry.

Less than two weeks ago, a mass shooting took place a mile from the House of Cards set but it did not affect production.

Season 5 of the show ended with Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood now in the Oval Office as America’s first female POTUS after Underwood resigned during his second term for his role in the money-laundering scandal that also brought down his predecessor. He also wanted to avoid a murder rap.

House of Cards, which is based on a BBC program, debuted in 2013.

Variety reported Netflix and MRC are in the early stages of a potential spinoff.

Netflix

Series

2013–2018

TVMA

Drama

Politics

Where to Stream

Latest Headlines

More House of Cards ›

Conversation7 Comments

Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.

Comments are closed on this story.

Sort by

O

OrangeDog
Nov 1, 2017
So the entire cast of House of Cards will lose their jobs over this? Does not seem fair. Just kill off one character if you must. Shows do it all the time.

1
C

CyanCoathanger
Nov 1, 2017
Spacey did not acknowledge committing the behavior but that the behavior would have been inappropriate had he committed it. There's a big difference.
1. G
  
  GoldSubmarine
  Nov 1, 2017
  Remember earlier this season we were discussing how critics dislike Jeremy Piven? Well he was just accused of sexual harassment from some actress I never heard of. CBS will likely ax his show Wisdom of the Crowd. But in truth the ratings are abysmal (CBS standards) and they probably would have canceled it anyway.
  1. C
    
    CyanCoathanger
    Nov 1, 2017
    Yes, I remember. I'm thinking I've read that Piven is gay. As I said under the last article about this, it's becoming like the modern day version of a witch hunt. Let's see how many other men in show business get accused of something now.
    
    2
  2. R
    
    RedHat
    Nov 1, 2017
    I like the show hope it keeps going
    
    2
    1. C
      
      CyanCoathanger
      Nov 1, 2017
      I've been watching it. I'd rate it worth watching but nothing great. I fear the recent news will hasten its cancellation.
      
      2
2. R
  
  RedHat
  Nov 1, 2017
  agree