The director of global kids content at Netflix has been fired just one week after telling one of the four women who has accused Danny Masterson of rape that company executives do not believe the actor’s accusers.
‘Mr. Yeatman is no longer employed at Netflix,’ a spokesperson for the company said in a brief statement.
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report the news.
Yeatman now joins a number of famous faces who have been recently ousted by the company, including Kevin Spacey, Louis CK and Masterson.
There were signs that Yeatman might be out at the company last week, when he skipped a planned appearance at the annual Children’s Global Media Summit in Manchester.
Done deal: Netflix announced on Tuesday that the company had terminated Andy Yeatman (left), the director of global kids content (Danny Masterson on right)
HuffPost reported last week that Yeatman was approached by an alleged victim during their daughters’ soccer game on Sunday, who asked how the streaming giant planned to respond to the claims of violent sexual assault which have been made against the actor, who stars alongside Ashton Kutcher in Netflix’s comedy series The Ranch.
Yeatman responded by saying that while Netflix takes allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, in this particular case ‘we don’t believe them.’
The woman was stunned according to the report, and said at that point she was one of Masterson’s victims.
Netflix later confirmed that this exchange did happen, saying Yeatman’s remarks ‘were careless, uninformed and do not represent the views of the company.’
Yeatman was also unaware that the woman was an alleged victim when she approached him over the weekend.
The pair did not speak again until after the match, as Yeatman was coaching his daughter’s team while the victim’s husband was the coach of the opposing squad.
Yeatman approached the victim after the match to try and clear the air, explaining that he had nothing to do with the decision in the end as to whether or not Masterson or his show would suffer as a result of the scandal.
He also made a point of noting that he had no idea she was one of Masterson’s accusers, which led to the victim breaking down in tears and saying: ‘I hope no one ever says that to your daughter.’
Later in the exchange, Masterson’s accuser told Yetaman that she and the other women were telling the truth before adding: ‘Netflix is going to regret this, this is a mistake, they’re going to see.’
That is when Yeatman allegedly said to the woman ‘we’ll see’ in a condescending tone according to two people that were present at the time.
Netflix denied that Yesatman ever made that comment and said in a statement: ‘We are aware of the allegations against Danny Masterson and we are following the current investigation, and will respond if developments occur.’
Masterson was fired the following day.
Ranch hands: Yeatman’s firing comes a week after he informed a woman that the company did not believe the individuals including Danny Masterson of rape (Masterson and Ashton Kutcher above in their show The Ranch)
Three of Masterson’s accusers were Scientologists at the time of her alleged assault, and at least one was declared a Suppressive Person after filing a police report against the actor.
The Church responded by having multiple members file reports declaring her a liar while Masterson’s own publicist disputed the woman’s claims in a previous story from reporter Yashar Ali.
‘Her claims coming after almost 16 years were surprising and shocking to say the least,’ said Jenni Weinman at the time.
‘My conversation with any alleged victim came from a place of sincerity, and curiosity as to why they would wait and why now, it just seemed so illogical.’
The Los Angeles Police Department has been investigating the case for close to a year, and in April handed over their intial findings to the district attorney’s office.
Masterson has denied all allegations of sexual assault made against him by the four women.
‘The Church of Scientology has no practice or policy forbidding the reporting of criminal wrongdoing allegedly committed by Scientologists or anyone else, nor does the Church expel, let alone punish, members to report crimes,’ said a spokesperson in a statement.
‘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. Law enforcement investigated these claims more than 15 years ago and determined them to be without merit,’ Masterson said after news of his firing last Tuesday.
‘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.’