Amid new sexual assault allegations, Netflix has announced the cancellation of the Emmy-nominated House of Cards. The political drama will end after its sixth season which is set to air in 2018. Netflix have further announced that they will not be releasing the film Gore, starring and produced by Spacey.

Star Trek: Discovery actor, Anthony Rapp, in an interview with Buzzfeed, stated that in 1986 Spacey made sexual advances towards him at the young age of 14. Spacey responded on twitter apologising and claiming that although he did not remember the incident it must have been “deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour”. Spacey, also for the first time, publically announced that, “I now choose to live as a gay man”, timing that has been met with criticism as Spacey almost appears to be attempting to justify his actions with this announcement.

As saddening as these allegations are, they don’t come as a shock. It seems that the entertainment industry is rife with male entitlement, with both men and women speaking out about their experiences more and more frequently.

However, despite these allegations, it seems as though the careers of the perpetrators don’t suffer much. This begs the question of whether justice is ever served in these situations? We’ve seen many occasions in which men in the entertainment industry have committed crimes of abuse and have thrived nonetheless. Take Chris Brown, for example, who, despite Rihanna, has gone on to have a successful singing career with his most recent release, ‘Questions’, doing well in the charts.

Disheartening as it is, men in the entertainment industry often appear to be given special treatment and are rarely severely reprimanded for their wrong-doings. Moreover, when such allegations are made we frequently hear about the offenders getting ‘treatment’ as though they are in some way ill and therefore not responsible for their actions. This has been seen with both Weinstein and Spacey who are reportedly getting treatment for sex addiction. It is no surprise that victims are so reluctant to come forward with their stories and it is a testament to their bravery when they do.

In the case of Spacey it is yet to be seen how these allegations will affect his acting career, although from past experiences of similar situations we can’t say we have much hope of justice being served.

Zoë Louca

Image Credit: The Contrartian