Kevin Spacey's "predatory" behavior turned the set of Netflix's hit series House of Cards into a "toxic" work environment, eight employees have alleged. The eight current and former employees, whose identities are being protected for fear of repercussions, detailed Spacey's alleged pattern of sexual assault to CNN Thursday.
"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," a production assistant who was allegedly harassed and assaulted by Spacey said. "It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors."
According to the assistant, Spacey "put his hands down [his] pants" while he was driving the actor to the set. Once the assistant and Spacey arrived on set and made it to the actor’s trailer, the assistant said Thursday, Spacey "cornered" him at the door and engaged in "inappropriate contact."
Other crew members detailed similar alleged incidents, with one employee—who has been with the series for its entire run—describing Spacey's actions as a routine occurrence. "[Spacey] 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," the crew member said.
Spacey, who was recently dropped by the Creative Artist Agency and his publicist, has not responded to the latest allegations. In a BuzzFeed Newsinterview last month, Actor Anthony Rapp (Star Trek: Discovery) said Spacey made a sexual advance toward him when he was 14 years old.
Netflix confirmed Thursday that they sent a rep to the House of Cards set following Rapp's BuzzFeed interview. Earlier this week, the streaming service and production company MRC decided to suspend production on the show's sixth season. An anonymous hotline and sexual harassment legal advisors have been provided to the crew by MRC.
