Channeling Frank Underwood, Actor Kevin Spacey Speaks With Tucker Carlson

The actor and political commentator team up for Christmas special, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

Kevin Spacey speaks to press after leaving court at Southwark Crown Court in London, England, on July 26, 2023. The U.S. actor who starred in the popular TV series “House of Cards” and the film “The Usual Suspects” has been cleared of all sexual assault charges brought by men during his time as artistic director of The Old Vic Theatre. Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

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’.”

Spacey’s Christmas Message Tradition

Previously, Mr. Spacey had often recorded a festive message to his fans at Christmas, with previous dispatches addressing pertinent topics at holiday time, such as suicide awareness.

In 2018, he spoke once again in character as Underwood about “rushing to judgment without facts.” He skipped the annual tradition of reaching out to viewers during the holiday season in 2020 and 2021.

Fiction or Non-Fiction?

This year’s interview between the actor and political commentator was filled with moments where the lines between reality and fiction seemed intentionally blurred.

Mr. Carlson addressed Frank Underwood as a real political figure while addressing current-day topics.

Cast member Kevin Spacey poses at the premiere for the second season of the television series "House of Cards" at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles, California, on Feb.13, 2014. Mario Anzuoni/File Photo/Reuters

Early on, Mr. Spacey—or Underwood—said those in the country need to “stop apologizing and stiffen up.”

“I mean, we got so many people running around with so many different issues like gun control—an important issue—but let’s be honest, more people are killed by online trolls every day,” said Mr. Spacey.

“... We should remember the salient words of Benjamin Franklin, who said ‘Do not believe anything of what you hear and only half of what you see... he wasn’t telling people to stop talking, he was telling people to stop listening so stop blaming bots and college kids and start telling leaders what leadership really means,” he went on.

Those comments were made before Mr. Carlson noted what the two had in common—their oustings.

“Here we are Tucker, bigger than ever,” Mr. Spacey retorted, before offering Mr. Carlson the role of vice president in Underwood’s “fictional” 2024 campaign.

Tucker Carlson speaks during the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Feszt in Esztergom, Hungary, on Aug. 7, 2021. Janos Kummer/Getty Images

It was unclear whether Mr. Carlson was asking Mr. Spacey—or Underwood—if he felt legacy media had something to do with what happened to him.

“Legacy media’s diligence has turned out to be, they just cut and paste what some ‘trusted outlet’ does,” he said before advising Mr. Carlson to be on the lookout for how the video will be reported on.

Mr. Carlson also queried Mr. Spacey about when he’d be getting back to work to which Mr. Spacey noted the video was the beginning of that, describing it as “a little bit” of an episode and reality, mixed together.

“I will play whatever role the public wants me to play,” said Mr. Spacey.

The Epoch Times reached out to Netflix for comment.