The
scandals of the latter half of 2017 have clearly continued into the New Year. But while fresh claims of harassment have been lodged against the likes of James Franco and Aziz Ansari, many of us are still waiting to see what criminal charges will be filed against
and
, who purportedly abused numerous young men and women.
And with news that a new investigation into Kevin Spacey for alleged sexual assault has been launched by London police, it's evident that the once-renowned actor cannot attempt to resuscitate his career anytime in the near future. Certainly, streaming service, Netflix, have announced the losses incurred from cutting ties with the 58-year-old.
Netflix has revealed the cost of severing its relationship with disgraced actor, Kevin Spacey. It announced a write-down of $39 million (£28 million) for its fourth fiscal quarter - a number which was largely due to prematurely ending projects that were affiliated with Spacey.
After the scandal first hit the press, Netflix stated that its hit show, House of Cards, would be continuing without Spacey for its sixth and final season. Meanwhile, the unfinished Gore Vidal biopic, Gore, which Spacey was starring in has been dropped entirely by the streaming service.
Deadline have reported that while Netflix didn't specify the exact cause of the write-down during its fourth-quarter earnings presentation on Monday, "a
source familiar with the accounting for the quarter later confirmed that the write-down accounted for the final episodes of House of Cards as well as the feature film Gore.
"
David Wells, Netflix's CFO has asserted that "
these types of business write-downs are an ongoing facet… of producing content
." He added, "
We just hadn’t had one of this magnitude and related to the societal reset around sexual harassment, so it was somewhat unusual in that respect.
"
The first allegation against Kevin Spacey was made by actor Anthony Rapp, who was 14-years-old at the time. Rapp, who is best known for his role in Star Trek: Discovery, disclosed to Buzzfeed that Spacey climbed on top of him and attempted to make advances before he was able to "wriggle free". And now, at least 15 other men have reported similar occurrences. Victims include filmmaker and director Tony Montana, British barman Daniel Beal, actor Roberto Cavazos, as well as a member of the Norwegian royal family.
Kevin Spacey has faced further backlash for the way in which he responded to the allegations. Several hours after Anthony Rapp's claims became public, Spacey posted an apology on Twitter, wherein he claimed that he didn't remember the incident, while also chalking it up to "inappropriate drunken behaviour".
And in the same note, Spacey chose to officially come out. It was labeled a PR move which was quickly denounced as being transparent and calculated. "This story has encouraged me to
address
other things about my life," the actor wrote. "I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy. As those closes to me know, in my life, I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic relationships with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man."
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