The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2017
Kevin Spacey's Netflix exit stranded a finished film and a $39M charge
In four days Netflix cut Kevin Spacey from House of Cards and shelved a finished film; its next earnings disclosed a $39M charge.
Netflix · 2017-11-04
What happened
In the first days of November 2017, Netflix cut its ties with Kevin Spacey: it said it would not be involved in any further production of House of Cards that included him, and that it would not move forward with the release of the film Gore. House of Cards was Netflix's flagship original series, and Gore was already in the can.
The financial cost was disclosed by Netflix itself: in its Q4 2017 earnings the company took a $39M charge for unreleased content it had decided not to move forward with, a line item widely attributed to the Spacey and Louis C.K. projects. The legal record later ran the other way: in October 2022 a New York jury found Spacey not liable in Anthony Rapp's civil suit and awarded no damages, and in July 2023 Southwark Crown Court acquitted him of all nine charges he faced in the UK.
Why it happened
- A flagship series built around one actor is a single point of failure: once Netflix decided to sever, it ruled out any further production with him and abandoned a film that was already finished.
- The $39M charge, disclosed in Netflix's own earnings for content it chose not to release, priced the decision in money the market could see.
- Netflix moved before any legal finding, and the later outcomes — a 2022 jury finding of no liability, a 2023 acquittal — did not bring the work back.
The lesson
When a show's value sits in one person, the studio's decision is binary and immediate: sever now and price the write-down. Later vindication does not restore a cancelled series.
Aftermath
In October 2022 a New York jury found Spacey not liable in Anthony Rapp's suit and awarded no damages. On 26 July 2023 Southwark Crown Court acquitted him of all nine charges. Neither outcome revived the Netflix work: House of Cards ended without him and Gore was never released.
Sources
- Netflix fires Kevin Spacey from House of Cards — The Guardian, 4 November 2017
- Netflix writes down cost of cancelled Spacey, Louis C.K. projects — NBC News, 23 January 2018
- Jury finds Kevin Spacey not liable in Anthony Rapp suit — NPR, 20 October 2022
- Kevin Spacey cleared of all charges at Southwark Crown Court — BBC, 26 July 2023
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