Several “House of Cards” employees have accused Kevin Spacey of sexual harassment, according to a CNN report Thursday.
In the piece, people who currently work on the Netflix show or have worked with him in the past painted the 58-year-old actor as a man who allegedly had “predatory” behavior, especially toward young males. All the people who spoke about the alleged sexual misconduct spoke on condition of anonymity. (RELATED: ‘The View’ Blasts Kevin Spacey For Tying Homosexuality To Pedophilia)
(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
One member of the crew claimed Spacey would put his hands on him in weird ways and routinely harassed him. His alleged experiences were similar to the behavior others described.
One production assistant, claimed that the “House of Cards” star sexually assaulted him one day while he was driving with the actor to the set. The man claimed Spacey, who was driving, reached out and put his hands down the assistant’s pants without his consent.
“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 production assistant explained. “It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors.”
Multiple people who the outlet spoke to confirmed that the set was “toxic” for young males.
The production company of the political drama, Media Research Capital responded to the new allegations.
“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,'” the statement read. “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,” it added. “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.”
Netflix also responded to the new accusations in a separate statement.
“When the allegations broke about Kevin Spacey on Sunday night, in conjunction with MRC, we sent a representative to set on Monday morning,” the company said in a statement. “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.”
The new allegations come to light after “Star Trek” actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey Sunday in a BuzzFeed News article of making a sexual advance towards him at a party when he was 14 years old in 1986.
On Monday, Spacey responded to the accusation and said while he didn’t recall the encounter, if he acted the way Rapp said he owes him the “sincerest apology.” He then came out as a “gay man.”
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017
On Thursday, Spacey’s spokesperson said the actor was seeking “evaluation and treatment.” There was no information given about where and when.