Kevin Spacey is facing new sexual misconduct allegations from employees on the “House of Cards” set days after Netflix halted production on the series.
CNN reports that eight people have come forward to disclose that Spacey had sexually harassed male crew members over the course of the series’ six-season run.
A former production assistant told CNN that he was assigned to take Spacey to the set in Baltimore, Md. While Spacey was driving, the actor put his hands down the PA’s pants.
“I was in a state of shock,” the PA told CNN. “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.”
The Pa alleges that Spacey continued to make inappropriate sexual advances towards him in a trailer on set. He told Spacey “I don’t think I’m comfortable with this,” which caused Spacey to “become visibly flustered” and leave.
“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 PA says. “It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors.”
The PA says when he reported the incident to a supervisor, he was no longer allowed to be alone with Spacey while on set.
Another male crew member alleges that Spacey would frequently make inappropriate contact with him.
“He would put his hands on me in weird ways,” the crew member says. “He would come in and massage my shoulders from behind or put his hands around me or touch my stomach sometimes in weird ways that in normal everyday conversation would not be appropriate.”
Netflix released a statement saying it was not aware of the allegations against Spacey on the set of “House of Cards.”
“Netflix was just made aware of one incident, five years ago, that we were informed was resolved swiftly,” the statement said. “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 the fallout of the growing allegations, Spacey has been let go by his talent agency CAA and has “parted ways” with his publicist Staci Wolfe, Deadline reports.
