Frank Langella denies he sexually harassed his The Fall of the House of Usher co-star: "I have been canceled. Just like that"

Deadline

Langella, who was dropped from the Netflix series last month for allegedly sexually harassing the actress who played his wife, has broken his silence in a guest column for Deadline: "I have been canceled. Just like that," he writes. "In the increasing madness that currently pervades our industry, I could not have imagined that the words collateral damage would fall upon my shoulders. They have brought with them a weight I had not expected to bear in the closing decades of my career. And along with it has come an unanticipated sense of grave danger." He added: "On March 25 of this year, I was performing a love scene with the actress playing my young wife. Both of us were fully clothed. I was sitting on a couch, she was standing in front of me. The director called cut. 'He touched my leg,' said the actress. 'That was not in the blocking.' She then turned and walked off the set, followed by the director and the intimacy coordinator. I attempted to follow, but was asked to 'give her some space.' I waited for approximately one hour, and was then told she was not returning to set and we were wrapped. Not long after, an investigation began." Two days after TMZ broke the story on April 12, Langella wrote, "I was fired. I was not given a hearing with Netflix. My request to meet one-on-one with the actress was denied. The directors and the producer stopped answering my emails and phone calls. Within 30 minutes of my firing, a letter went out to cast and crew and a full press release was sent immediately. My representatives and I were given no opportunity to comment or collaborate on the narrative." Langella concluded his statement, writing: "Cancel culture is the antithesis of democracy. It inhibits conversation and debate. It limits our ability to listen, mediate, and exchange opposing views. Most tragically, it annihilates moral judgment. This is not fair. This is not just. This is not American." Netflix has yet to comment on Langella's statement.