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House of Cards Almost Got Canceled Until Robin Wright Intervened

Robin Wright saved the show -- and lots of jobs

Malcolm Venable Sept. 2, 2018 at 1:57 p.m. PT

Netflix's House of Cards was much closer to being canceled in the aftermath of Kevin Spacey's sexual harassment scandal than we initially thought. In an interview with Net-a-Porter's Ajesh Patalay, Robin Wright, who plays Claire Underwood, highlighted her do-good fashion line Pour les Femmes and discussed the House of Cards ending that almost didn't happen.

Saying the show came "very, very close" to ending, she said, "Because of the climate at that time. The air was thick, you know. Harvey Weinstein... People were saying 'We have to shut everything down or otherwise it will look like we are glorifying and honoring this thing that's dirty.'"

Robin Wright Hasn't Spoken to Kevin Spacey Since He Was Fired from House of Cards

Wright went on to say that as an executive producer on the series, she felt responsible to the fans of the show, but also the cast and crew, numbering closer to 2500 than the 600 initially reported, who stood to lose their steady incomes in the event of a sudden cancelation.

"Our show's not dirty!" Wright responded when asked about making the case to Netflix in favor of finishing the series, "They printed that it was 'only' 600 people out of work, but if you include security, cops, shooting on location in Baltimore, everything, 2,500 people would have been out of a job. And that's not fair - to take that security away from those people...They didn't do anything."

Robin Wright, House of Cards — Robin Wright, *House of Cards*
David Giesbrecht / Netflix

Wright's diplomacy behind the scenes kept House of Cards afloat to see the final season wrap, which is slated to premiere on November 2. That same diplomacy was extended to her disgraced co-star, Spacey, whom Wright admitted she doesn't know very well outside of work, but when asked if his career should be given a second chance, commented, "I believe every human being has the ability to reform. Has the ability to reform. In that sense, second chances, or whatever you are going to call it - absolutely, I believe in that. It's called growth."

House of Cards is expected to return with the show's final eight episodes this fall on Netflix.