The week started with sexual misconduct allegations against Kevin Spacey, and the story has only become more devastating. Vulture ran an extended interview from another alleged victim, who says he was sexually assaulted by the actor at the age of 15 years old. British police have opened an investigation into another alleged assault in 2008. And even more stories have emerged about the actor’s behavior, this time from the set of “House Of Cards.”
Eight crew members and employees who worked on the hit Netflix show, have spoken to CNN, and shared their stories of Spacey’s harassment and assault, which went all the way back to the first season of the show.
“I have no doubt that this type of predatory behavior was routine for him and that my experience was one of many and that Kevin had few if any qualms about exploiting his status and position,” a production assistant who was harassed said. “It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors.”
Netflix and production company Media Rights Capital have been swift to respond to this latest set of allegations. According to the streaming service, they were only made aware of one incident that occurred during the first season, and any other subsequent encounters, did not come to their attention. Here’s their statement:
Netflix was just made aware of one incident, five years ago, that we were informed was resolved swiftly. On Tuesday, in collaboration with MRC, we suspended production, knowing that Kevin Spacey wasn’t scheduled to work until Wednesday. Netflix is not aware of any other incidents involving Kevin Spacey on-set. We continue to collaborate with MRC and other production partners to maintain a safe and respectful working environment. We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the production, and have nothing further to share at this time.
Meanwhile, MRC has established “an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counselors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew,” and also claim they were only made aware of one incident. Here’s their statement:
We are deeply troubled to learn about these new allegations that are being made to the press concerning Kevin Spacey’s interaction with members of the crew of House of Cards. As the producer of the show, creating and maintaining a safe working environment for our cast and crew has always been our top priority. We have consistently reinforced the importance of employees reporting any incident without fear of retaliation and we have investigated and taken appropriate actions following any complaints. For example, during our first year of production in 2012, someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved. Mr. Spacey willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints involving Mr. Spacey.
Production has been halted on season six, and given these latest allegations coming to light, it seems unlikely that it will resume. Spinoff talk is already happening, though the future of “House Of Cards” should really be the last concern at the moment.
There has been no comment from Spacey’s camp, but on Wednesday, his publicist shared the following statement: “Kevin Spacey is taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment. No other information is available at this time.”