House of Cards will resume production on final season early next year without Kevin Spacey

Popular Netflix political drama House of Cards is set to return to production early next year — but it will do so without its embattled star, Kevin Spacey. The news was confirmed by the company’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos on stage at UBS’s Global Media and Communications Conference this morning in New York City.

This morning’s announcement follows news that the show halted production and ultimately severed ties with Spacey, after the actor was the latest in a long line of high-profile men to become the subject of sexual misconduct allegations. In spite of the actor’s absence, Robin Wright will star in the sixth and final season of the show, which is set to run eight episodes — five shorter than the previous seasons.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sarandos promised that the sixth season of the program would offer fans “closure” on the story, though he wouldn’t disclose precisely how the show would continue on without Frank Underwood.

The future of one of Netflix’s most popular programs has been in question since Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp went public with allegations that Spacey had made advances on the younger actor when he was 14 years old. Spacey issued an apology, “for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”

The number of Spacey accusers has since grown to more than a dozen, though, as Rapp shared recently via Twitter, none of that news has stopped the actor from being berated on social media by angry viewers for his perceived role in the end of the show.