Netflix has indefinitely suspended production on ‘House of Cards’ now
The timeline is pretty simple: late Sunday night, Anthony Rapp’s interview with Buzzfeed was published, an interview where Rapp said that Kevin Spacey tried to seduce/groom him when he (Rapp) was 14 years old. Less than 24 hours later, Netflix announced that the currently-filming season of House of Cards (Season 6) would be the last, that they were effectively canceling the show. I understand that they are currently in production and that the livelihoods of many people are on the line, but of course Netflix was pipe-dreaming that Season 6 could go off without a hitch. And now, less than 48 hours after Rapp’s Buzzfeed interview was published, Netflix has suspended production on House of Cards.
Filming on the upcoming sixth and final season of Netflix’s Washington D.C.-set drama House of Cards has been suspended indefinitely. Cast and crew of the MRC-produced series were told of the shutdown this morning.
“MRC and Netflix have decided to suspend production on House of Cards season six, until further notice, to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew,” the two companies said in a joint statement to Deadline. The news comes less than 24 hours after Netflix announced that House of Cards will end with its upcoming sixth season as allegations of unwanted sexual advances in 1986 by HoC star Kevin Spacey against then-14-year-old Anthony Rapp had emerged.
The Emmy-nominated House of Cards had been in production in the Baltimore metro area on its sixth season. Executives from Netflix and MRC arrived there Monday “to meet with our cast and crew to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported” following the allegations against Spacey, who had not been scheduled to be on set yesterday.
“Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled by last night’s news concerning Kevin Spacey,” the companies said in a joint statement Monday.
Season 6 of House of Cards had been expected to consist of 13 episodes and debut in mid-2018 on Netflix. It is unclear yet how the stop of production would impact that.
[From Deadline]
Considering there were low-key rumors about Spacey harassing below-the-line workers on House of Cards, this does not surprise me. I would like to think that this is a corporation trying very hard to act responsibly on behalf of their employees’ well-being, and that Netflix really wants to ensure that they’re doing everything correctly. But there’s a little voice in my head that says “Netflix heard the rumors long ago and decided to back up their star rather than below-the-line workers.” That little voice says “too little too late, Netflix.” Much like the Weinstein thing, this is mostly about a corporation trying to mitigate their legal liabilities. Still, it’s interesting that less than 24 hours after announcing the end of HoC, they’re now suspending production indefinitely. We’ll see.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Source: Netflix has indefinitely suspended production on ‘House of Cards’ now
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