Hollywood is celebrating the today with the Oscar nominations honoring the year in movies, but the industry can’t forget the hard work that still needs to be done. In addition to be being a great twelve months for cinema, 2017 was also defined by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements which saw many prominent figures face allegations of sexual harassment and assault from victims who finally felt empowered to speak out. It lead to dashed careers, canceled projects, and in the case of Netflix, millions of dollars lost.
Bloomberg reports that Netflix was stung by a “non-cash charge” of $39 million thanks to the scandals. The fallout at the the streaming service has fairly large, with production on “House Of Cards” season six going on an extended hiatus, getting an overhaul, and finally getting a greenlight for a shortened sixth and final season following multiple sexual harassment and assault allegations against Kevin Spacey. Netflix was also behind the biopic “Gore” starring Spacey which they walked away from entirely. The company also decided to cancel a second stand-up special by Louis C.K. And let’s not forget that “The Ranch” star Danny Masterston was finally ousted following multiple rape allegations (the actor will appear in the first ten episodes of the third season, but has been written out of future storylines).
Granted, for a company that’s going to be spend a whopping $8 billion on original content in 2018 alone, $39 million is a drop in the bucket. Still, that’s money burned that could’ve put to acquisitions, development, or that “Bright” sequel.