As the LAPD continues to investigate sexual assault claims against Danny Masterson, a Netflix spokesperson confirmed to Variety on Tuesday that the actor has been ousted from the sitcom The Ranch. “As a result of ongoing discussions, Netflix and the producers have written Danny Masterson out of The Ranch,” the spokesperson’s statement read. “[Monday] was his last day on the show, and production will resume in early 2018 without him.”
In a statement sent to HuffPost by his attorney, Masterson addressed his ousting and denied the allegations. “I am obviously very disappointed in Netflix’s decision to write my character off of The Ranch,” the statement read. “From day one, I have denied the outrageous allegations against me. I have never been charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one.”
The sexual assault allegations against Masterson date back to the early 2000s, and came to light in Leah Remini’s A&E docuseries, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, when she spoke to one of his alleged victims. Masterson is a member of the Church of Scientology.
On Monday, HuffPost reported that one of Masterson’s alleged victims—who has asked to remain anonymous—approached a Netflix executive, Andy Yeatman, at a kids’ soccer game in Los Angeles over the weekend. Without knowing that he was speaking to one of Masterson’s accusers, Yeatman said the reason Netflix hasn’t taken action against the actor is because the company don’t believe the accusers. Netflix’s silence on Masterson’s accusations had been widely criticized, especially after the streaming service took swift action to remove Kevin Spacey from House of Cards after the actor’s own sexual misconduct allegations surfaced.
The fourth installment of The Ranch, which stars Masterson and his former That ’70s Show costar Ashton Kutcher, will be released on December 15. It is not yet clear when, or how, Masterson’s character will be removed from the series, though he’s not expected to appear after the episodes released this month.
