Streaming giant Netflix has fired its House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey following various sexual assault and harassment allegations made against him recently.
"Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey. We will continue to work with (producer of the series Media Rights Capitol) MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show," a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement, Variety reported.
Netflix also said it will drop its upcoming biopic on author Gore Vidal titled Gore.
"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," the spokesperson added.
House of Cards/Facebook
Netflix's decision to sever ties with the two time Oscar-winner comes on the heels of a CNN report in which eight former and current employees of House of Cards have accused him of sexual harassment.
A former production assistant alleged that Spacey had sexually assaulted him during one of the series' earlier seasons.
"I was in a state of shock. 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," he told CNN.
All the eight persons who shared their experiences with CNN, spoke on the condition of anonymity, and they "described Spacey's behavior as 'predatory', saying it included nonconsensual touching and crude comments and targeted production staffers who were typically young and male," the report states.
The production of the sixth season of House of Cards had been suspended earlier this week after Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp had alleged that Spacey, then 26, had made sexual advances towards Rapp when he was 14-years-old. Rapp was the first to blow the whistle on Spacey, in his interview to Buzzfeed.
"My stomach churns. I still to this day can't wrap my head around so many aspects of it. It's just deeply confusing to me," Rapp told BuzzFeed.
After Rapp came out saying he was left traumatised from the incident, Spacey issued an apology on social media.
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017
He simultaneously also declared that he now wanted to live his life as a gay man.
He, however, received significant backlash for choosing to come out at an "incorrect" moment.
The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences also withdrew an honour that was scheduled to be conferred on him.
The International Academy has announced that in light of recent events it will not honor Kevin Spacey with the 2017 Intl Emmy Founders Award
— Intl Emmy Awards (@iemmys) October 30, 2017
Variety also reported that Spacey has been dropped by CAA, the actor's talent agency, and his publicist Staci Wolfe has also parted ways with him.
Scotland Yard has also launched an investigation against Spacey after a British actor accused him of sexual assault in 2008.