House of Cards Production Suspended Indefinitely in the Wake of Kevin Spacey Scandal

In the wake of the Kevin Spacey scandal, Netflix and production company Media Rights Capital have halted production on House of Cards as of Tuesday."MRC and Netflix have decided to suspend production on House of Cards season six, until further notice, to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew," the companies said in a joint statement obtained by TV Guide.On Sunday, actor Anthony Rapp alleged in an interview with Buzzfeed that Spacey tried to have sex with him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Spacey responded with an apology in which he came out as gay, which many commentators found insufficient, saying that it conflated homosexuality with pedophilia. On Monday, Netflix and MRC announced that House of Cards' in-production sixth season will be its last. Reports surfaced that Netflix is considering a House of Cards spin-off in its place. "Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled by last night's news concerning Kevin Spacey," the companies said in a statement on Monday. Executives went to the show's set in Baltimore to meet with cast and crew "to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported," according to the statement. Spacey was not on-set at the time. Spacey has starred as Frank Underwood on House of Cards since 2013. He has won a Golden Globe and two SAG awards for his performance on the show, which helped Netflix break into original content. Season 6 is planned to consist of 13 episodes and premiere in 2018, and it's unclear at this time if the production suspension will change that.