Daily Times

Netflix drama ‘House of Cards’ comes to a halting end with its upcoming sixth season concluding on the brink of a sexual assault crisis.

Word of the series’ finale, all set to premiere in 2018, comes in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against its lead star Kevin Spacey. In an interview with Buzz Feed on Sunday, Anthony Rapp of ‘Star Trek – Discovery’ claimed that Kevin Spacey had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old him at a party back in 1986. Multiple sources confirm, however, that the decision to call HoC off was made months ago and was not in response to the allegations that were just brought into light.

Spacey, in a statement released hours after the interview was put into the foreground, apologised to Rapp saying that he was “beyond horrified” to hear Rapp’s story which he did not recall. He added, “I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.”

The 58-year-old and two-time Academy Award winner also besieged the opportunity to come clean about his sexuality and set the record straight. He said, “I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man.”

Spacey’s statement was met with criticism on Monday from the GLAAD community and gay activists, with GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis bewailing, “Coming-out stories should not be used to deflect from allegations of sexual assault.” Others equally disapproved the actor for floating past the issue at hand, curious as to his unnecessary manoeuvre of conflating sexuality with the molestation of a minor.

Netflix and producer Media Rights Capital released a statement on Monday, quoted as saying, “Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled by last night’s news concerning Kevin Spacey. In response to last night’s revelations, executives from both of our companies arrived in Baltimore this afternoon to meet with our cast and crew to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported. As previously scheduled, Kevin Spacey is not working on set at this time.”

House of Cards’ creator Beau Willimon, who stepped down as showrunner of the series at the end of Season 4, Tweeted a statement of his own on the micro blogging platform early on Monday. He said, “Anthony Rapp’s story is deeply troubling. During the time I worked with Kevin Spacey on ‘House of Cards’ I neither witnessed nor was aware of any inappropriate behaviour on set or off. That said, I take reports of such behaviour seriously, and this is no exception. I feel for Mr Rapp and I support his courage.”

Spacey is the ultimate star of the American political thriller and first original online-only web television series, HoC. He is also the executive producer of the show that put Netflix in the winning as a destination for original programming. The series has been nominated for a total of 53 Primetime Emmy Awards including five nominations for outstanding drama series, since 2013.

Published in Daily Times, November 1^st 2017.