Kevin Spacey will not be receiving a planned award from the International Television Academy.
“The International Academy has announced today that in light of recent events it will not honor Kevin Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award,” said the Academy in a statement.
The news comes in the wake of sexual-assault allegations against the “House of Cards” star. “Star Trek: Discovery” star Anthony Rapp told Buzzfeed that Spacey had sexually assaulted him at a party in 1986 when he was 14. Spacey later apologized in a statement in which he said he was “beyond horrified” by Rapp’s story, saying he did not recall the incident. His apology included saying that he was choosing “to live as a gay man” from now on — a move critics said appeared intended to deflect attention from Rapp’s accusation.
The actor was scheduled to be presented with the award at the 45th annual International Emmys in New York on November 20. Past recipients of the award include Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Matthew Weiner, Howard Stringer and Shonda Rhimes.
Netflix announced on Monday that the upcoming sixth season would be the last for the series. “Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled by last night’s news concerning Kevin Spacey,” said a joint statement. “In response to last night’s revelations, executives from both of our companies arrived in Baltimore this afternoon to meet with our cast and crew to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported. As previously scheduled, Kevin Spacey is not working on set at this time.”
