That ’70s Show’s Danny Masterson Finally Fired From Netflix Over Rape Allegations
Actor Danny Masterson, best-known for playing Hyde in the sitcom That 70s Show, was fired by Netflix on Tuesday in light of several rape allegations made against him, according to HuffPost.
Netflix released a statement to reporter Yashar Ali on Tuesday announcing they had fired Masterson from his show The Ranch, noting that his last day of filming was Monday.
The firing comes after Ali reported on Monday that a Netflix executive — Andy Yeatman, director of global kids content — unwittingly told one of Masterson’s accusers that company executives did not believe the rape allegations.
The stunning story from HuffPost went as follows: Yeatman was coaching a young girls’ soccer team when a mother of the other team approached him and asked if he worked at Netflix.
It continues (the mother and accuser is identified as Victim B):
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.
The woman then informed Yeatman that she was one of the accusers, and ended the conversation, per Ali.
Masterson, who stars in The Ranch alongside former ’70s Show co-star Ashton Kutcher, has been accused by four women of raping them in the early 2000s. Masterson has claimed that the relations were consensual, and released a statement to HuffPost:
“I am obviously very disappointed in Netflix’s decision to write my character off of ‘The Ranch.’ From day one, I have denied the outrageous allegations against me. I have never been charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one,” Masterson said in a statement provided to HuffPost by his attorney.
The statement continued: “In this country, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, in the current climate, it seems as if you are presumed guilty the moment you are accused. I understand and look forward to clearing my name once and for all.”
The LAPD is currently investigating the allegations.
Read the report here.
[image via screengrab]
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