Kevin Spacey has been accused of sexual misconduct by eight current and former House of Cards employees. The new accusations come less than a week after actor Anthony Rapp claimed that the two-time Oscar winner, 58, made sexual advances toward him in 1985 when Rapp was 14 years old.
All eight employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, claimed to CNN in a story published on Thursday, November 2, that Spacey made the set of the Netflix political drama a “toxic” work environment and described his behavior as “predatory.”
A former production assistant claimed Spacey sexually assaulted him during one of House of Cards‘ early seasons. The assistant was assigned to drive to an offsite location to pick up the actor. Shortly before they arrived on set, Spacey allegedly put his hands down the man’s pants without consent. “I was in a state of shock,” he recalled to the outlet. “He was a man in a very powerful position on the show and I was someone very low on the totem pole and on the food chain there.”
Later that day, the American Beauty actor allegedly cornered the assistant in a trailer and made inappropriate contact with him before he was able to get away. The employee did not report the incident to the police or the show’s managers, but he did tell a coworker, who corroborated the story to CNN.
“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,” the assistant said. “It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors.”
A crew member who has worked on the show for all six seasons alleged to CNN that Spacey repeatedly harassed and touched him inappropriately on his shoulders and stomach. Meanwhile, a former camera assistant claimed that “everybody saw” Spacey acting inappropriately but that he “gets away scott-free.” Another former crew member claimed that Spacey also made sexually-charged comments on set.
After being accused of sexual misconduct by Rapp last week, the Tony winner said in a statement that he did “not remember the encounter,” but apologized for “what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” He is currently seeking unspecified treatment, and production on the sixth and final season of House of Cards has been suspended.
In a statement to Us on Thursday evening, Netflix said, “When the allegations broke about Kevin Spacey on Sunday night, in conjunction with MRC, we sent a representative to set on Monday morning. 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.”
In a separate statement, MRC, the production company behind the Netflix series, told Us, “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. In response to the current situation, on Tuesday of this week, MRC installed an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counselors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew. MRC will continue to thoroughly investigate all current claims and any new claims that are formally brought to our attention, and will continue to monitor our own production and practices to ensure that our cast and crew feel safe and supported.”
