David Giesbrecht/Netflix(HOLLYWOOD) — Following the news Monday that the Netflix series House of Cards would end after its upcoming sixth season, the streaming service has now suspended production on that upcoming season.
In a statement obtained by ABC News, Netflix explains that the production on the final season has been halted “until further notice, to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew.”
While the decision to end the show was, according to Netflix, made prior to the current controversy involving star Kevin Spacey, the statement indicates the decision to halt production was prompted by it.
Star Trek: Discovery star Anthony Rapp accused Spacey in a Buzzfeed feature of making sexual advances on him 30 years ago, when he 14 and Spacey was 26. Spacey responded by tweeting that he doesn’t remember the incident, but apologizes for his “inappropriate drunken behavior. In the same tweet, he came out as gay, announcing, “I choose now to live as a gay man.”
Spacey was immediately criticized for turning Rapp’s decision to come forward into Spacey’s own personal coming-out story, and for apparently conflating his alleged behavior toward a then-underage Rapp with being homosexual.
Since Rapp’s allegation, The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has cancelled plans to honor Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award. In addition, according to the Hollywood Reporter, London’s storied Old Vic theater — for which Spacey served as artistic director from 2004 to 2015 — has stated that it is “deeply dismayed” to hear the allegations.
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