'House of Cards' Producers Issue Letter On Extended Hiatus Following Kevin Spacey Probe

The sixth season of Netflix’s political drama “House of Cards” continues to suffer an extended production hiatus. Following the investigation on Kevin Spacey, the show’s former lead star, and his numerous sexual misconduct allegations, the producers have decided to extend the dates of the hiatus and will provide an update December 8th.
Ever since news of Spacey’s disgraceful actions both past and present broke out, “House of Cards” immediately halted their production, severed ties with the actor, and plans to make the upcoming season the last—moving on to possible spin-offs of the highly-acclaimed Netflix drama. Since then, the producers have been looking for practical ways to introduce Spacey’s exit from the show without it looking like a haphazard move to jeopardize its narrative.

Media Rights Capital, who oversees the production of the Netflix show, sent a letter to its entire cast and crew informing them of the hiatus extension. Additional two weeks were added to the originally planned dates, but the crew will continue to get their paychecks until they resume production.
“We continue to work with Netflix with the hope of resuming production soon,” the letter read. “As we continue these discussions, we have determined together that the crew will be paid for an additional two-week hiatus – beginning on November 27th and continuing through December 8th.”

A difficult time for ‘House of Cards’

The letter went on to address how it’s been a trying time for the cast and crew of “House of Cards.” “These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen. The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business.”
As of now, details on how the show will go on without Spacey are unknown. The last season of “House of Cards” ended with Frank Underwood ousted from his office while his wife, Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) assumed the presidency. It could be that the show will pick up right after Claire took the presidential seat, or maybe during her administration.

Check out the full text of the letter below, as originally reported by Variety:
Dear Cast and Crew,
As we move into the holidays, we want to express our appreciation for all of the meaningful messages of support we have received from you and want to update all of our loyal cast and crew on our progress and where things currently stand.
We continue to work with Netflix with the hope of resuming production soon.  As we continue these discussions, we have determined together that the crew will be paid for an additional two-week hiatus – beginning on November 27th and continuing through December 8th.
In addition to the writers, there will be a small contingency of office/accounting staff who will remain in the production office on a continuous basis. Our hope is that the entire crew will be able to reconvene when production resumes, but we want you to know that we will certainly understand if crew members need to find other work in the interim, which will prevent them from re-joining us. We sincerely appreciate all you have done.
Cast and other union members who are not actively working will be paid in accordance with applicable union guidelines through this period and we will be reaching out directly to your representatives to work through the details; we will get to everyone as quickly as possible and appreciate all of your patience here.
These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen. The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business.
We will provide an additional update by 12/8/17.