Netflix just announced it is suspending filming on the sixth season of House of Cards. The move comes on the heels of the streaming giant announcing the day before that the sixth season would be its final one. The abrupt cancellation came in the wake of sexual assault allegations levied against the show’s star, Kevin Spacey, who played President Frank Underwood. Over the weekend, an actor claimed that Spacey made aggressive advances toward him while drunk when the actor was only 14. Spacey apologized for his “inappropriate drunken behavior” and came out as gay, the timing of which has been highly criticized as trying to deflect from his suspected misconduct.
Netflix and Media Rights Capital released a statement today, per CNN, saying they had shut down production “to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew.” Previously, the company had said it was “deeply troubled” by the allegations.
The conclusion of the House of Cards has been in the works since the summer, reports The Hollywood Reporter. The show’s final 13 episodes, starring Spacey and Robin Wright, were planned to air in 2018. How this production shutdown will affect the show is still not clear.
House of Cards could be credited as a breakthrough hit that helped reinvent Netflix’s image back in 2011, before the streaming giant had become a dominant player in original programming. The show was an adaptation of a British series and Michael Dobb novel of the same name and it sparked bids from multiple programmers, including pay cable giant HBO. It is estimated that Netflix bought the show for around $100 million.
Since then, Netflix has upped its original content spending to $6 billion annually and has more than 30 current series, reports The Hollywood Reporter. The streaming platform recently topped 100 million worldwide users.
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