‘Don’t Date Brandon’ Victims Amber and Athena Reveal Why They Exposed Him in Podcast, Docuseries

After years of torture during their romances with Brandon Johnson, Amber Rasmussen and Athena Klingerman opened up about their experiences in their podcast, “Ex-Wives Undercover: Liars, Cheaters & Love Cons.”

Now, they get to share their story in the Paramount+ docuseries Don’t Date Brandon.

While speaking to Life & Style, Rasmussen and Klingerman candidly discussed why they wanted to publicly discuss their experiences with Johnson.

“I would say, gosh, we were very nervous to move forward because of his retaliation. I think the whole process of dealing with him and what he’s capable of was so mind blowing that when Amber experienced it, as well, it was so comforting for me,” Klingerman told Life & Style. “It was like this weight had been lifted off my shoulders, in a way. Like, I wasn’t alone and so I think knowing that if we could share this to help protect anybody else or for anybody else that was possibly going through it or had gone through it, just to let them know that they’re not alone.”

Klingerman was first married to Johnson and remained in his life after their split because they share a child.

After he met Rasmussen online, the pair began a whirlwind romance and quickly wed. Rasmussen explained in the docuseries that he pitted the women against each other, though they ultimately connected once she realized she was experiencing abuse.

Rasmussen and Klingerman quickly bonded over their similar experiences with Johnson.

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Once Rasmussen officially left Johnson, Klingerman said they had “talked about a little bit here and there” of attempting to expose him. However, they were finally inspired to start their podcast when Klingerman’s older sister died in 2020 “due to an act of domestic violence.”

“And I remember Amber just really being there for me. I was so lost. And she just said, ‘I think this is the time that we move forward and we do this,’” Klingerman recalled. “And so my sister, Jessica, was almost like this fire under us that gave us strength and made us a little bit more brave.”

Rasmussen added that they “were learning about domestic violence” at the time, including “all the different forms of it, not just the physical part of it. The emotional, the financial, the sexual, you name it, all of the abuses.”

She then explained that Jessica had a similar story to her own. After Jessica met her abuser online thinking he was “great,” she ultimately “lost her life” within six months of marriage.

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“And so we felt some parallels of, like, that could have been us, that could have been any woman out there,” Rasmussen said. “We kind of went in blind of like, ‘Let’s just do this. We don’t know how to do a podcast, but we’re going to do it.’”

They initially used fake names on the podcast because they “didn’t want the retaliation” from Johnson. “He was embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars. We didn’t want to get sued. We knew it was all true. But at a certain point, we did out his real name because he was continuing to abuse women in different states,” Rasmussen said.

“It was just this hurricane that was happening and we kept gaining momentum and more and more women would come out. And so we felt more empowered with sharing the story,” Rasmussen said. “And then the docuseries came out and it just gave us the opportunity to even scream from the rooftops even louder to the world because he’s not done, unfortunately. I don’t think he will be done for a while.”

Don’t Date Brandon premieres on Paramount + on October 28.