House of Cards producer investigating claims of Kevin Spacey's on-set harassment

The producer of ‘House of Cards’ is investigating widespread claims of sexual harassment by Kevin Spacey on the set of the Netflix show.

Media Rights Capital has set up a anonymous complaint hotline, and brought in counsellors and legal advisers after a raft of new allegations against that actor.

CNN reports that ‘multiple employees’ of the show have come forward with claims against Spacey, following the allegations earlier this week from the ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ actor Anthony Rapp, who said that Spacey molested him at a party when he was 14.

One production assistant claims that Spacey put his hands down his pants without his consent during a drive to the show’s set, and on another occasion cornered him and touched him inappropriately.

“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,” he said.

“It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors.”

Another said that Spacey would ‘put his hands on me in weird ways’, touching his stomach and massaging his shoulders.

According to CNN, six others have also come forward so far.

“We are deeply troubled to learn about these new allegations that are being made to the press concerning Kevin Spacey’s interaction with members of the crew of House of Cards. As the producer of the show, creating and maintaining a safe working environment for our cast and crew has always been our top priority,” Media Rights Capital said in a statement.

“We have consistently reinforced the importance of employees reporting any incident without fear of retaliation and we have investigated and taken appropriate actions following any complaints.

“For example, during our first year of production in 2012, someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved.

“Mr. Spacey willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints involving Mr. Spacey.

“MRC will continue to thoroughly investigate all current claims and any new claims that are formally brought to our attention, and will continue to monitor our own production and practices to ensure that our cast and crew feel safe and supported.”

Filming was suspended on the sixth series of the show, in which Spacey plays machiavellian politician Frank Underwood, earlier this week.

Following the allegations from Anthony Rapp, it also announced that the sixth series would be its last.

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