Netflix suspends production on current season of ‘House of Cards’

Just one day after Netflix confirmed it was ending its hugely popular and successful series “House of Cards” next year, following a sexual harassment claim that was made against series star/executive producer Kevin Spacey, now comes word that production on the show’s current season has been put on hold indefinitely.

“MRC [Media Rights Captial, the show’s producer] 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 Tuesday.

In a Sun-Times story published Sunday and first reported on BuzzFeed, Chicago native Anthony Rapp, a successful stage actor now seen on the TV series “Star Trek Discovery,” accused Spacey of sexually propositioning him when he was 14. The alleged incident occurred in 1986, while both were performing on Broadway. Spacey befriended the teenage actor and invited him to his home for a party. Later that night, Spacey, then 26, carried Rapp to his bed and climbed on top of him.

Spacey responded by saying he doesn’t remember the alleged encounter but if he acted the way Rapp alleges, “I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” He also spoke publicly for the first time about being gay, which draw backlash from some observers as an attempt at deflection.

Contributing: Associated Press