House of Cards production suspended

House of Cards’ final season is now in doubt

Global streaming service Netflix has suspended production on season six of House of Cards indefinitely, in light of the sexual assault accusations levelled at star and exec producer Kevin Spacey.

In a joint statement, Netflix and series producer Media Rights Capital (MRC) said: “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 announcement follows swiftly on from the news that Netflix would not renew the political drama after its sixth run, which was due to land on the streamer in the middle of next year.

Netflix and MRC said they were “deeply troubled” by Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp’s claim in a Buzzfeed interview that Spacey had made a sexual advance towards him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 years old.

Spacey, via Twitter, later claimed to be unable to remember any such incident, apologising for “what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour.”

Beau Willimon, House of Cards’ creator and showrunner, also called Rapp’s story “deeply troubling,” adding that he supported his courage for speaking out.