Netflix Says “House of Cards” Is Cancelled After Kevin Spacey Assault Allegations Emerge

Trigger Warning: This article discusses sexual assault.

The citizens of Twitter were quick to declare Kevin Spacey “cancelled” yesterday, and Netflix wasn’t far behind.

The streaming giant has revealed that the upcoming sixth season of House of Cards will be the show’s last. Their announcement came in response to new sexual assault allegations against the show’s star, Spacey.

Actor Anthony Rapp, now featured on Star Trek: Discovery, accused Spacey of trying to seduce him when he was just 14 years of age. He alleges the incident took place in 1986, when Spacey was 26.

Rapp claims Spacey made a sexual advance when they were alone in his apartment, following a party. (They were both appearing in Broadway shows at the time.) Spacey allegedly carried Rapp to his bed and climbed on top of him, but Rapp was able to “squirm” away.

“I still to this day can't wrap my head around so many aspects of it,” Rapp told Buzzfeed.

“It's just deeply confusing to me.”

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Spacey responded to Rapp’s claim, saying he did “not remember the encounter”, adding, “if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years."

Spacey, however, has been heavily criticised for the statement, in which he also decided to announce that he “[chooses] now to live as a gay man”. Many saw this as a wildly inappropriate attempt to conflate homosexuality with this specific incident of alleged child assault, with dangerous consequences for the LGBTQI community.

Former House of Cards showrunner Beau Willimon called Rapp’s story “deeply troubling”.

Netflix soon followed up by saying House of Cards will come to an end following the production of its current season. However, a spokeswoman insisted the decision to end the show had been made long in advance of this recent controversy.

Already, Netflix is reportedly mulling over several House of Cards spin-offs, none of which would feature Spacey’s character Frank Underwood. Their options include a series focused on Washington fixer Doug Stamper, the journalists who have worked to expose Underwood’s shady machinations, and the power-brokers who seemingly control politics from behind the scenes.

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Photo: Netflix