Recently, an LAPD investigation into rape claims against The Ranch star Danny Masterson had “inexplicably stalled” despite “compelling evidence” against him, leading Leah Remini to suspect that the Church Of Scientology—of which Masterson is a member—has been protecting him. Some people believe there’s a similar fishiness surrounding Masterson’s work with Netflix, since the streaming service has barely responded to the accusations even though it quickly cut ties with Kevin Spacey and Louis CK when confronted with similar allegations against them.
Now, The Huffington Post says that one of Masterson’s accusers actually confronted a Netflix executive over the weekend at a kids’ soccer game, with the executive reportedly saying that Netflix hasn’t done anything about the claims because the company doesn’t believe they’re real. The executive, director of global kids content Andy Yeatman, is the coach of his daughter’s soccer team, and his team happened to be playing against one coached by the husband of the alleged victim.
As the story goes, the accuser approached Yeatman during the game and asked why Netflix wasn’t taking the allegations from Masterson’s accusers seriously, to which he responded, “we don’t believe them.” This prompted her to say “I’m one of them” before leaving, and though he later tried to explain that he hadn’t known who she was initially, the executive supposedly still talked to her about the accusations in a “condescending tone.”
Netflix has released a statement confirming that the interaction happened, referring to Yeatman’s comment as “careless” and “uninformed” since he “would have no insights into decision making on The Ranch.” The statement also puts some blame on the accuser, suggesting that she should have identified herself before speaking with Yeatman, and it adds that it’s still investigating the rape claims against Masterson—with The Huffington Post noting that the investigation has apparently been going on since March.