Danny Masterson fired from The Ranch; Netflix, actor react

The status of Danny Masterson, star of Netflix’s The Ranch, has been a major point of contention for some time. For many, the fact that he kept his job amidst sexual assault allegations was outrageous — especially when Netflix chose to fire Kevin Spacey from House of Cards after his own allegations came out.

After weeks of criticism, Netflix finally changed their mind and on Monday, and officially terminated his job as an actor on The Ranch. In a statement, a spokesperson for the company had the following to say:

“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.”

There are a few different wrinkles here that do need to be considered here, with one of the interesting ones being whether or not Masterson will remain an executive producer on the show. For now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he is denying the allegations against him in a new statement to the Huffington Post — after all, that’s what he has done since the allegations first surfaced:

“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. 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 political climate, it seems as if you are presumed guilty the moment you are accused. I understand and look forward to clearing my name once and for all.”

The Ranch is currently slated to go on without Masterson, and more than likely the show will choose to cast someone else in Danny’s place. As for who that could be, it would be interesting if they go for Topher Grace in order to continue the That 70’s Show reunion vibe. It’s a little too early to know one way or another just what direction the streaming provider is going to go with this, but they probably need an established name in comedy given that this was one of the reasons why Masterson was cast in the first place.

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