Despite the bewildering success of Netflix’s The Ranch, three seasons of which are currently available to stream, both the show and its distributor are facing serious allegations stemming from the stalled sexual assault case against star Danny Masterson. Leah Remini — an ex-member of Scientology, of which the That ’70s Show alum remains a part — interviewed Masterson’s accusers. She’s even gone so far as to suggest the stalled case is due to the controversial religious group’s influence in the LAPD. Rampant speculation notwithstanding, Netflix’s surprisingly quiet demeanor regarding the rape accusations is startling.
That all changed over the weekend when Andy Yeatman, a Netflix executive who serves as the company’s director of global kids content, unknowingly told one of Masteron’s rape accusers he didn’t believe the women’s allegations. According to the Huffington Post:
Yeatman spoke with the woman, whom HuffPost is referring to as Victim B, on the sidelines of a kids’ soccer game in Los Angeles. Yeatman is the head coach of a soccer team for 8- and 9-year-old girls. Victim B’s husband is the head coach of the team that played against Yeatman’s on Sunday. Their respective daughters play on the teams that their father’s coach.
When Victim B approached Yeatman and asked him if he worked at Netflix, she says he answered in the affirmative.
Victim B said she asked Yeatman why Netflix was not taking action against Masterson in light of the district attorney’s investigation and the multiple accusations of rape. According to Victim B and another witness, Yeatman said Netflix takes sexual misconduct allegations seriously but that “we don’t believe them,” referring to Masterson’s four accusers.
When the woman told Yeatman she was “one of them,” their conversation about the matter “ended quickly.” Netflix subsequently confirmed the executive’s encounter with one of Masteron’s alleged victims, describing his comments as “careless” and “uninformed.” However, they were quick to note that Yeatman “was not initially aware that the woman he was speaking to had accused Masterson of rape.”
(Via Huffington Post)