Netflix Fires Danny Masterson Amid Rape Allegations

In a statement, Mr. Masterson denied the accusations, which he described as “outrageous.”

“Law enforcement investigated these claims more than 15 years ago and determined them to be without merit,” he said. “I have never been charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one. 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.”

At least three of the women claimed they were pressured to keep quiet by the Church of Scientology, to which they and Mr. Masterson belonged, according to Mr. Ortega, who wrote a book on Scientology.

The Church of Scientology “adamantly denied” that it had pressured victims. “What is being stated is utterly untrue,” it said in a statement. “This has nothing to do with religion. This story is being manipulated to push a bigoted agenda.”

In his statement, Mr. Masterson said he was “very disappointed” by Netflix’s decision. He thanked the cast, crew and fans of the show and said he wished it success.

Before the Tuesday announcement, a Netflix executive had reportedlyunwittingly told one of Mr. Masterson’s alleged victims that the company did not believe the accusations.

The exchange occurred at a children’s soccer game on Sunday when the victim approached the executive, Andy Yeatman, the director of global kids content for Netflix, HuffPost reported.

After Mr. Yeatman acknowledged to the woman that he worked at Netflix, she asked why the company had done nothing about Mr. Masterson, according to the report.

Mr. Yeatman reportedly said that the company generally takes such allegations seriously, but did not believe Mr. Masterson’s accusers.

“I’m one of them,” the woman, whom HuffPost did not name, told him.

Netflix said in a statement that Mr. Yeatman’s comments “were careless, uninformed and do not represent the views of the company.”

The news of Mr. Masterson’s firing comes one day after Netflix announced that the sixth and final season of “House of Cards” would star Robin Wright, who had shared the spotlight with Kevin Spacey until he was fired this fall following a slew of reports of sexual misconduct.

Article via: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/business/media/danny-masterson-fired-netflix.html