Netflix has announced its political drama House of Cards will end after its upcoming sixth season.

The announcement comes on the heels of a sexual harassment allegation against the show’s star Kevin Spacey.

In a joint statement, Netflix and production company Media Rights Capital say they are “deeply troubled” by an allegation that Spacey harassed a 14-year-old boy in 1986.

Executives from Netflix and the show’s producer, Media Rights Capital, said they arrived in Baltimore, where the show is shot, afternoon to make sure actors and crew “continue to feel safe and supported.” Spacey was not scheduled to be on set on Monday.

Though the decision to end the series was announced on Monday, the decision to pull the plug on the series is understood to have been made several months ago.

Anthony Rapp said he was at Spacey’s apartment at the time for a post-show party. Photo: Getty

Spacey is the latest Hollywood man to be named in widening allegations of sexual harassment and abuse in entertainment, media and other industries.

The avalanche of allegations began earlier this month after the New York Times published a story alleging that producer Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed numerous women.

In an interview published by BuzzFeed News on Sunday, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that he was at a party at Spacey’s apartment in 1986 when an inebriated 26-year-old Spacey picked him up, placed him on his bed, and climbed on top of him.

Rapp, then 14, was able to get away without any physical harm.

Spacey responded on Twitter by saying he doesn’t remember the alleged encounter but if he acted the way Rapp alleges, “I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour.”

Spacey then said Rapp’s story “encouraged” him to address long-simmering rumors about his sexuality.

He wrote that he’s had romantic relationships with both men and women in the past but is now living “as a gay man” and wanted to be honest so he could examine “my own behaviour.”

The two-paragraph statement – an apology in the first for a 31-year-old alleged assault and a self-outing in the second – struck many as an odd time for Spacey to address his sexuality or even an attempt to deflect blame.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the gay rights group GLAAD said in a statement that the story was really about unwanted sexual advances on Rapp not Spacey’s sexuality.

“Coming out stories should not be used to deflect from allegations of sexual assault,” she said.

– AAP