‘Don’t Date Brandon’: His Former Wives Explain Why They Will Do Anything to Warn Women About Their Dangerous Conman Ex-Husband
Over a decade ago Amber Rasmussen met Brandon Johnson on Tinder and was smitten. Johnson’s “crazy” ex-wife, Athena Klingerman, was annoying and constantly texting Johnson about their young daughter, but Rasmussen overlooked any red flags and eventually married Johnson in 2017. Soon after, things quickly began to fall apart. It turned out that Klingerman wasn’t the problem. It was Johnson.
“Don’t Date Brandon,” Paramount’s latest true-crime docuseries explores how Jonhson lied and almost got away with everything but murder. The docuseries reveals that while married to Rasmussen, Johnson lied about working for Nike, faked cancer, and continuously cheated on his wife. He also set up a fake coparenting app and pretended to contentiously communicate with Klingerman about their daughter.
The three-part docuseries that premiered this week chronicles how Rasmussen discovered Johnson’s deceptions and finally left him, only to be harassed by her ex after their divorce. After years of alleged suicide threats and stalking — including break-ins and GPS tracking — Rasmussen secured a protective order against Johnson. The series also traces how Rasmussen and Klingerman, who were enemies for years, eventually connected to discuss the warning signs they missed about their mutual ex- husband. Rasmussen discovered that Klingerman also secured protective orders against Johnson, who led police on a high-speed chase with their daughter in the car and somehow got away
In 2020, Rasmussen and Klingerman launched the podcast “Ex-Wives Undercover” to warn others about Johnson. The podcast led to more victims coming forward, and new details and stories emerging about Johnson’s sordid past. Three years into the podcast, in 2023, Johnson was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault and attempted kidnapping with intent to sexually assault . He also admitted to 10 counts of attempted first-degree theft in a separate fraud case.
Variety spoke to Rasmussen and Klingerman about why they wanted to make the docuseries and how they feel about their ex-husband being released from prison.
Klingerman: Yes. We thought long and hard about it because you’re right: This story is reaching an even broader audience now, but we needed to get the word out, so it was worth any consequences we could face. At this point it’s like let’s keep moving forward. Let’s expose who Brandon is because Brandon represents so many other Brandons out there. It’s worth the risk of backlash to reach a larger audience and let other people know who might be going through this that they are not alone.
Rasmussen: We, of course, put them in contact (with producers), but it had to be their personal decision to participate. One of the women, one of his first girlfriends, was very scared (to be part of the series). She’s still scared of Brandon. She actually reached out to us after the podcast came out on TikTok, and she was very reluctant because she was so scared. But after speaking (to production) she felt comfortable and just felt that this is a really important thing to share.
Klingerman: Absolutely. We have heard rumblings that he has plans. He is thinking about what his next steps will be, already from jail. It’s not surprising he believes his own lies. He doesn’t believe what he did was wrong. In my opinion he believes that his ex-wives drove him crazy. He will make an excuse to not take any accountability for what he has done. So, yes. It is very scary to think about him getting out.
Klingerman: I don’t think that that is a possibility legally, but I know that in the past, when I’ve seen other docuseries do something similar – it lights a fire under the judicial system’s butt a bit. The only thing I can hope for is that (law enforcement) will take any other criminal activity he might have (in the future) much more seriously. Other than that, all we can do is take it day by day. We just need to stay in the moment. Keep fighting and just be very present and very aware when he’s out.
Rasmussen: We have really fulfilled our purpose. We wanted to get out there to don’t date Brandon. So, even if he gets out, changes his name, whatever, his face is out there. So any woman who is ever going to get involved (with him) in the future, she hopefully will get led back to the docuseries or the podcast, and get that knowledge that we didn’t have collectively. Knowledge is power.
“Don’t Date Brandon,” Paramount’s latest true-crime docuseries explores how Jonhson lied and almost got away with everything but murder. The docuseries reveals that while married to Rasmussen, Johnson lied about working for Nike, faked cancer, and continuously cheated on his wife. He also set up a fake coparenting app and pretended to contentiously communicate with Klingerman about their daughter.
The three-part docuseries that premiered this week chronicles how Rasmussen discovered Johnson’s deceptions and finally left him, only to be harassed by her ex after their divorce. After years of alleged suicide threats and stalking — including break-ins and GPS tracking — Rasmussen secured a protective order against Johnson. The series also traces how Rasmussen and Klingerman, who were enemies for years, eventually connected to discuss the warning signs they missed about their mutual ex- husband. Rasmussen discovered that Klingerman also secured protective orders against Johnson, who led police on a high-speed chase with their daughter in the car and somehow got away
In 2020, Rasmussen and Klingerman launched the podcast “Ex-Wives Undercover” to warn others about Johnson. The podcast led to more victims coming forward, and new details and stories emerging about Johnson’s sordid past. Three years into the podcast, in 2023, Johnson was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for assault and attempted kidnapping with intent to sexually assault . He also admitted to 10 counts of attempted first-degree theft in a separate fraud case.
Variety spoke to Rasmussen and Klingerman about why they wanted to make the docuseries and how they feel about their ex-husband being released from prison.
Klingerman: Yes. We thought long and hard about it because you’re right: This story is reaching an even broader audience now, but we needed to get the word out, so it was worth any consequences we could face. At this point it’s like let’s keep moving forward. Let’s expose who Brandon is because Brandon represents so many other Brandons out there. It’s worth the risk of backlash to reach a larger audience and let other people know who might be going through this that they are not alone.
Rasmussen: We, of course, put them in contact (with producers), but it had to be their personal decision to participate. One of the women, one of his first girlfriends, was very scared (to be part of the series). She’s still scared of Brandon. She actually reached out to us after the podcast came out on TikTok, and she was very reluctant because she was so scared. But after speaking (to production) she felt comfortable and just felt that this is a really important thing to share.
Klingerman: Absolutely. We have heard rumblings that he has plans. He is thinking about what his next steps will be, already from jail. It’s not surprising he believes his own lies. He doesn’t believe what he did was wrong. In my opinion he believes that his ex-wives drove him crazy. He will make an excuse to not take any accountability for what he has done. So, yes. It is very scary to think about him getting out.
Klingerman: I don’t think that that is a possibility legally, but I know that in the past, when I’ve seen other docuseries do something similar – it lights a fire under the judicial system’s butt a bit. The only thing I can hope for is that (law enforcement) will take any other criminal activity he might have (in the future) much more seriously. Other than that, all we can do is take it day by day. We just need to stay in the moment. Keep fighting and just be very present and very aware when he’s out.
Rasmussen: We have really fulfilled our purpose. We wanted to get out there to don’t date Brandon. So, even if he gets out, changes his name, whatever, his face is out there. So any woman who is ever going to get involved (with him) in the future, she hopefully will get led back to the docuseries or the podcast, and get that knowledge that we didn’t have collectively. Knowledge is power.