Danny Masterson Is Being Written Out of Netflix's The Ranch Amid Rape Accusations

At long last, on Tuesday, Netflix announced that actor Danny Masterson, whom four women have accused of rape, is being written off his Netflix series The Ranch, in other words, he’s been fired.

Netflix, which took notably hastier action to rid itself of Kevin Spacey when stories of his own alleged sexual misconduct became news, said in a statement, “As a result of ongoing discussions, Netflix and the producers have written Danny Masterson out of The Ranch. [Monday] was his last day on the show, and production will resume in early 2018 without him.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Masterson’s performance will remain in the second half of the show’s second season. Masterson may also appear in scenes from the already announced third season, depending on how adept the writers are at fading characters into oblivion.

Yesterday, the Huffington Post published an alarming article about a Netflix kids’ programming executive who said he didn’t believe Masterson’s alleged victims (the executive’s spokesperson later called the comment “careless” and not representative of Netflix’s views).

[THR]

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Did you ever see the 2016 movie Why Him? starring James Franco, Bryan Cranston, and Zoey Deutch? Neither did I! According to IMDB “a holiday gathering threatens to go of the rails when Ned Fleming realizes that his daughter’s Silicon Valley millionaire boyfriend is about to pop the question.” Sounds like a horror flick, but judging by the promotional image in which the three stars are awkwardly hugging (alert the Washington Post!), I think it’s a comedy.

According to James Franco, it’s also inspired by a true story that happened to Jonah Hill. The actor revealed in an interview with Dustin Hoffman for Variety that the story of Why Him? is based on Hill’s experience dating Hoffman’s daughter Ali for nine months.

“Jonah was talking to Ben Stiller … one time,” said Franco, “and he’s like, ‘Oh man, I’m going to go on vacation with Dustin Hoffman. Like, I don’t know him.’ And it was really early in his relationship.” And Hoffman added, “That’s true.”

[Variety]

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• Real Housewives of Orange County star Shannon Beador is moving ahead with her divorce from husband David, and requesting sole custody of their three children. [Page Six]
• John Mayer was hospitalized—and had to postpone a concert—due to his undergoing an emergency appendectomy. [THR]
• Terry Crews is suing agent Adam Venit for sexual assault. [TMZ]
• Ivanka Trump continues to skirt issues and kill comedy. [Twitter]