Updated: Jan. 11, 9:50 a.m.

A YouTube channel called #MeNeither questioning the honesty and motives of sexual assault survivors is creating a backlash against a Portland coffee chain.

The channel features videos created by Nancy Rommelmann, a writer and wife of the owner of Portland coffee chain Ristretto Roasters, and Leah McSweeney, a columnist at Penthouse Magazine. “Toxic Femininity, Asia Argento edition,” its first episode, was published Dec. 19.

In the first #MeNeither episode, Rommelmann and McSweeney, call into question the motives and trustworthiness of Asia Argento and Rose McGowan, two actors who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault in 2017.

Rommelmann previously reviewed books and wrote feature stories as a freelance writer for The Oregonian/OregonLive, ending in 2014. Her husband, Din Johnson, owns Ristretto and she has been referred to as part owner of the business in past articles about the company but said Thursday over email she has no professional affiliation with the business.

State records list her as the manager of Ristretto. Over email Thursday Johnson called these records “outdated and in need of updating,” and said Rommelmann helped with baking and " other back-end housekeeping" when the business first opened but “Nancy has not for years worked with Ristretto or been on payroll.”

Other pieces of evidence point to Rommelmann’s ongoing involvement with the company however. Oregon Liquor Control Commission spokesman Matthew Van Sickle confirmed Friday that Rommelmann was listed on a liquor license for Ristretto from June 21, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2015.

And an email provided to The Oregonian/OregonLive by a former employee, sent by Rommelmann on May 16, 2018 to Ristretto employees about the closing of the coffee shop’s Southwest Broadway location, shows just how involved Rommelmann was in the business as recently as 2018.

“As some of you may know we are closing the café at 1320 Broadway today,” the email said.

“When we signed on as an anchor tenant,” it continues, “it was with the understanding from the building developers that Ristretto would be part of a retail community situated in and on either side of the lobby, including restaurants and other businesses.”

The email is signed “Nancy and Din.”

Thursday, a letter of protest signed by 30 current and former Ristretto employees was sent to Portland media outlets.

“We believe it is a business owner’s responsibility to create a safe and supportive working environment for their employees,” reads the letter. “Invalidating assault survivors throws into question the safety of Ristretto Roasters as a workplace and has the potential to create a demoralizing and hostile environment for employees and customers alike. This cannot be tolerated.”

“It’s important for customers to be informed” about the ideology Rommelmann is promoting, Camila Coddou, who sent out the letter on behalf of the employees, said Thursday.

Coddou worked for Ristretto for five years, three of which she was operations manager. She said she “worked closely” with Rommelmann at Ristretto during that time.

Coddou said that while the current and former employees wanted to make sure the public is aware of Rommelmann’s YouTube show, they also want customers to know that they don’t support the content of that show.

“Really, I invite people to be mad at me," Rommelmann said over email Thursday, "comes with the territory!”

On Instagram, users are leaving angry comments on Ristretto’s posts.

“I will no longer be buying my coffee at @rrpdx because of Nancy’s misogynist YouTube videos,” wrote user Memes for the Masses. “You’ve lost another customer because of her unacceptable bigotry.”

In the first episode of #MeNeither, Rommelmann mocks Argento’s Italian accent and calls Rose McGowen “a fabulist from way back.”

“I frankly don’t care if someone wants to go and have sex because they might get a better part,” Rommelmann says. “I don’t care. That’s their decision.”

McSweeney also questions Argento’s role in her boyfriend Anthony Bourdain’s suicide, something she also discussed in a now-taken down column for Penthouse called “HOT LINES: Can We Talk About Toxic Feminity?”

McSweeney's Penthouse article is archived here.

“I saw what was going on and I was wondering why no one was honestly covering it, like why the media was acting like she was a grieving widow when really she wasn’t at all,” McSweeney says in the first episode of #MeNeither, “which not to say that it’s all her fault this and that but if she cheated two days before he died and the pictures were everywhere and then we’re gonna act like we don’t know why he died that seems like it doesn’t make any sense.”

Since then, the women have published two more videos, one called “Victim Elixir: It’s Powerful Stuff!” and, the most recent video, posted on Monday, called “Monsters, Real and Manufactured.”

Those episodes discuss issues ranging from Louis CK to the Women’s March.

“Nancy is neither an owner nor employee of Ristretto,” Rommelmann’s husband and Ristretto owner Johnson said in an emailed statement Thursday. “The company has zero involvement with her work as a journalist, author, or any work she does in the media. We have no skin in the game here. We make coffee!”

“Second, unless it’s directly work-related; Ristretto remains politically neutral,” he continued. “Our job is to serve people coffee in a comfortable environment. This includes the comfort of everyone who works with Ristretto. Trying to involve us in a fight we are not in is unfair to our employees, and to the business. We will continue to do our best work possible.”

Ristretto has four Portland locations.