Getty Images
Actor Kevin Spacey.
- Eight current and former employees who worked on Netflix's "House of Cards" say they either witnessed or were victims of sexual assault from actor Kevin Spacey.
- The accusers say that Spacey created a "toxic" work environment.
- The allegations include Spacey putting his hands down people's pants without consent.
Eight current and former employees who worked on Netflix's "House of Cards" have accused actor Kevin Spacey of sexual assault, according to a CNN report Thursday.
The accusers in the report allege Spacey created a "toxic" work environment with his "predatory" behavior on the set of the hit Netflix show. The allegations included nonconsensual touching and crude comments towards staff members, many of them young and male.
One former production assistant alleged to CNN that when he and Spacey were inside a car, Spacey had put his hands down the production assistant's pants without consent. The production assistant went into more detail on what transpired next but asked for his account to be omitted from CNN's report.
"I was in a state of shock," the production assistant said to CNN. "He was a man in a very powerful position on the show and I was someone very low on the totem pole and on the food chain there."
The production assistant, who alleged that Spacey had previously sexually assaulted him before this incident, said that he notified a supervisor of Spacey's behavior, who then never allowed the two alone by themselves on the set.
"I have no doubt that this type of predatory behavior was routine for him and that my experience was one of many and that Kevin had few if any qualms about exploiting his status and position," the production assistant said. "It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors."
Another crew member in the report said Spacey "would put his hands on me in weird ways."
"He would come in and massage my shoulders from behind or put his hands around me or touch my stomach sometimes in weird ways that in normal everyday conversation would not be appropriate," the crew member said to CNN.
Other witnesses include a former camera assistant who said "everybody saw" the alleged behavior from Spacey.
"All the crew members commented on his behavior," the former camera assistant said to CNN. "What gets me is we have to sign sexual harassment paperwork before the start of the show and apparently [Kevin Spacey] doesn't have to do anything and he gets away scott-free with this behavior."
One former female production assistant on the set also believed that Spacey's conduct was well-known among the staff.
"It was very known that Kevin was inappropriate, and males I worked with complained to me about how they felt uncomfortable," she said to CNN. "Kevin does this thing which was play fights with them in order to touch them."
The former production assistant continued to recount Spacey "say hello, greet them, shake their hand and pull their hand down to his crotch and touch their crotch."
Following the latest report, MRC, the production company for "House of Cards," said in a statement to CNN that it was "deeply troubled" and would provide an "anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counselors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew."
The latest accounts come amid allegations that Spacey had made sexual advances towards actor Anthony Rapp when he was 14. Following the report, Spacey delivered an apology, saying his alleged actions were "deeply inappropriate drunken behavior." Spacey also noted in the same statement that he was now choosing to "live as a gay man."
After more people stepped forward to accuse Spacey of sexual misconduct, Spacey's representatives said in a statement he was "taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment."