The actor and political commentator team up for Christmas special, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.
In what was a different Christmas message than in years past, actor Kevin Spacey took to his YouTube channel, joined by former Fox News political commentator Tucker Carlson, to tell viewers that he’s to credit for Netflix’s success.
It was on Christmas Eve that Mr. Spacey, 64, in character as Frank Underwood from his former role on Netflix’s “House of Cards,” posted the seven-minute video, which had him being interviewed by Mr. Carlson. The clip was also published by Mr. Carlson on his various accounts on the social media platform X.
In the clip, Mr. Spacey joined Mr. Carlson as both discussed their oustings by their former networks—Mr. Spacey from Netflix and Mr. Carlson from Fox News.
They also conversed about today’s political environment and the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
“It is bizarre that they decided to publicly cut ties with me on allegations alone; allegations that have now been proven false because I don’t think there’s any question: Netflix exists because of me,” Mr. Spacey told Mr. Carlson. “I put them on the map. And they tried to put me on the ground.”
Fired Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations
It was in 2017 that Mr. Spacey was fired from his role as Francis Underwood after multiple sexual harassment allegations were made against the actor, including from members of the Netflix series’ crew.
In July, the “American Beauty” actor was acquitted of all 12 sexual assault charges he faced in a trial in the United Kingdom.
Months prior to that, a New York jury found him not liable for battery in a civil lawsuit brought against him by Anthony Rapp. Mr. Rapp had alleged that Mr. Spacey made a sexual advance towards him in the 1980s. Mr. Spacey won the $40 million civil suit against him.
However, last year, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana ruled Mr. Spacey and his production companies had to pay Media Rights Capital (MRC) nearly $31 million due to losses brought on by his 2017 firing for alleged sexual harassment of crew members.
The arbitrator found Mr. Spacey violated his contract’s demands for professional behavior by “engaging certain conduct in connection with several crew members in each of the five seasons that he starred in and executive produced ‘House of Cards’.”
