In her first interview since her House of Cards co-star Kevin Spacey was ousted from the Netflix show in light of multiple sexual misconduct allegations, Robin Wright claimed she had never met the actor outside work and only had a “respectful, professional relationship” with him. In an interview to the Today show on Monday, she said, “We were coworkers, really. We never socialised outside of work...He was so great with me. He was never disrespectful to me, so that’s my personal experience. That’s the only thing that I feel I have the right to talk about.”

Wright said that she “did not want to comment” on Netflix’s decision to remove Spacey from the show and said the House of Cards team was surprised when the allegations emerged. “I think we were all surprised, of course, and ultimately saddened,” she said. “We forged ahead and we were so thankful that we were able to complete the series as planned.”

Wright also spoke about the #MeToo movement, stating that she has also experienced harassment. The movement began after producer Harvey Weinstein and several prominent Hollywood personalities were accused of sexual harassment. “Seduction, I don’t care who you are, it’s about power. And once you overpower someone, that person then becomes vulnerable. This last year has shined the light in a new way to allow us to start a new conversation, so we just need to shift the paradigm,” she said.

An adaptation of Micheal Dobbs’s 1989 political thriller of the same name, House of Cards chronicled the story of Congressman Frank Underwood (Spacey), who hatches an elaborate plan with his wife Claire (Wright) to attain power after he is passed over for appointment as Secretary of State. The fifth season ended with Claire becoming United States of America’s first female president after taking over from her husband.

In October last year, Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey had made sexual advances at him at a party in 1986, when he was 14. Spacey made a public apology a day later, though he said he does not recall the incident, and also came out as gay. The timing of his coming out was met with severe criticism. In November, eight House of Cards employees accused Spacey of sexual misconduct on the sets of the show in a CNN report.

Spacey was dropped from the show a few days later, with producers Media Rights Capital Netflix and Netflix announcing that they would conduct an investigation into his conduct on set. In December, Netflix announced that the sixth and final season of the award-winning show would revolve around Wright’s character. The season will consist of eight episodes instead of the usual 13, and is scheduled to be premiered in late 2018.

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