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Netflix fires Kevin Spacey from House of Cards

Netflix fires Kevin Spacey from House of Cards

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The service is also shelving the biopic Gore, which stars the actor

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Photo by David Giesbrecht / Netflix

Earlier this week Netflix shut down production on House of Cards in the wake of actor Anthony Rapp’s sexual abuse allegations against Kevin Spacey. Today, the streaming service announced it is going a step further, and will no longer work with the actor in any capacity whatsoever.

“Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. “We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show. We have also decided we will not be moving forward with the release of the film  Gore, which was in post-production, starring and produced by Kevin Spacey."

In a statement, Media Rights Capital says that Spacey has been suspended from the production, effective immediately.

Production on the show’s sixth season was well underway before Rapp’s allegations surfaced in an interview with BuzzFeed. Spacey responded by coming out as a gay man publicly on Twitter, in what was widely criticized as an attempt to divert attention away from the accusations. Soon thereafter, word broke that the sixth season had already been planned to be the last hurrah for the political drama. On Halloween, both Netflix and production partner Media Rights Capital decided to put production of the series on hold. In the days since, an increasing number of people have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against the actor, with a report from CNN detailing multiple incidents during production of House of Cards itself.

The show’s producers have reportedly been considering ways to move forward, either by killing off Spacey’s character, or perhaps moving to spin-off shows. As for Spacey himself, a representative for the actor said on Wednesday that he is “taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment.” The actor was dropped by both his publicist and talent agency CAA on November 2nd.

Updated, November 4th, 2017, 9:30AM: Added statement from Media Rights Capital.