I misremembered the Danny Masterson rape allegations. I thought he got outed as a serial rapist in late 2017, during Me Too and the fall and winter of “outing sexual predators.” But no, it was in March 2017, we learned that LA County was investigating Masterson for raping three women, and using his connections in Scientology to basically hush it up and further demean his victims. Leah Remini used her connections (as an ex-Scientologist) to speak to at least one of Masterson’s victims and Leah apparently convinced the woman to go to the police. Then we heard that the LAPD was slow-rolling the investigation, likely because it involved a celebrity, a Scientologist and years-old accusations.
At some point, a fourth woman came forward to say that Masterson raped her as well. I believed the women, and I believed there were more victims out there. Netflix disagreed. But that’s a whole other conversation. The investigation has been happening all this time, and now Masterson has been arrested and charged.
The actor Danny Masterson, known for his roles in the sitcoms “That ’70s Show” and “The Ranch,” has been charged with raping three women in the early 2000s, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said on Wednesday.
Masterson is accused of raping a 23-year-old woman whom he had invited to his home in Hollywood Hills some time between October and December of 2003, the district attorney’s office said in a news release. He is also accused of raping a 28-year-old woman that same year as well as a 23-year-old woman in 2001. All of the allegations of rape occurred in the actor’s home, the news release said.
Masterson, 44, was charged with three counts of rape by force or fear, and faces a maximum sentence of 45 years to life in prison if convicted.
In a statement, Masterson’s lawyer, Tom Mesereau, said that the actor is innocent and that Masterson and his wife are in “complete shock” that the “nearly 20-year-old allegations” have resulted in charges.
“The people who know Mr. Masterson know his character and know the allegations to be false,” the statement said.
The district attorney’s office said that it had declined to file separate sexual assault charges against Masterson in two other cases because, in one instance, there was insufficient evidence and, in another, because of the statute of limitations.
Masterson was arrested on Wednesday morning and was later released on statutory bail, his lawyer said. His bail was set at $3.3 million, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and his arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 18.
Again, I believe the women. The three women at the heart of the 2017 investigation all said that the Church of Scientology sent people to stalk, harass and intimidate them, and Masterson has always seemed “off,” never moreso than when he tried to explain away all of these rape claims. Justice might be coming for Danny Masterson after all.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
It has taken so long.. I legit thought the accusations were going nowhere. I hope whatever the truth is wins.
Same. I even named him yesterday as part of a group of men in Hollywood who get away with things like this. It’s still sad that’s it’s actually 5 women who have accused him, but the prosecutor only allowed 3 to cases to continue—one was rejected due to not enough evidence and the other one due to the statute of limitations, urgh! I believe all those women, even the ones denied their chance at court.
Same. We will see if he is actually convicted. I read Tony Ortega blog and it is so disheartening to see what Scientology gets away with. They regularly donate money to the LAPD Hollywood division and recently there was a photo of LA mayor Eric Garcetti presenting a check from Scientology for $20,000 check to city Council.
Masterson will have the full power of scientology’s legal team behind him. Scientology uses all kinds of dirty tricks– in and out of the courts, to shut down their victims. I hope this is one that they lose.
I often wonder, especially lately, how good, honest, hardworking and noble police officers are able to do their jobs properly in the US. I’m so grateful to be living in Australia, where each police service is run by each state. There are possibilities of making donations to the service, but these are linked to specific entities, such as the Police Youth Clubs, and not to any one police officer, station or precinct. Police, like other public service employees such as teachers and indeed, politicians, can accept gifts from the public, but they must be declared, properly logged and not exceed a certain dollar value. Indeed, many a public servant, including our recent state Premier (like your state governor) has fallen foul of the rules and, bingo, almost instant dismissal and career suicide. It’s not a perfect system; bad apples come through now and again, but they are identified and chucked out pretty damn quickly. The accountability, checks and balances are constant and enormous.
As to this Masterson mongrel, I remember reading about this years ago, but thought the case/s had been done and dusted, since I’d heard no more. I’m glad the cases are proceeding, and hope he cops (no intended pun) the full weight of the law and his victims get justice. He and his missus and friends all sound utterly obnoxious and should hang their heads in shame. But they never will because they’re maggots.
@AnnaKist, I want to move to Australia now, given how your government works. It sounds like a lovely run government and the entire country looks like it is gorgeous place to live, though my hesitation is the types of insects you have. I have seen some that look like they come from another planet, especially the spiders!! Yikes!!
Though, on a side note, I have been reading that many British colonies are considering abdication after the death of TQ. I think I heard that Canada is certainly considering it. I wonder if Australia is as well?
@annakist I’m an Australian too and BIPoc die in police custody at a tragically high rate. Our police is just as complicit with racism & sexism as the ones in USA. It just manifests slightly differently however police brutality is an issue here. Plus we still have Jehovah Witness Kingdom Halls- even though Royal Commission concluded that they weren’t adequately protecting minors from sexual abuse. Two years after this commission elders ordered members to destroy paperwork that documented this abuse. Mining companies do things like destroying rare archeological sites at Juukan Gorge and continue to profit.
I think that guns being illegal is the main difference between here & the USA. Our country has plenty of issues with corruption & police brutality.
MarcelMarcel THANK you. Our police have plenty of their own issues. Hell current politician Peter Dutton hasn’t been slowed down at all considering when he was an officer he had a nasty habit of dropping indigenous kids out of town in the middle of the night and forcing them to walk home.
Speaking from my own experience where the police were less than sympathetic when I went for help to get rid of an abusive boyfriend and they made me leave my own flat so he could stay I’m even less inclined to stand up for them.
@marcelmarcel ++++1
Remember the story about his wife fat shaming Daniel Franzese (from Mean Girls) and bullying him for his sexuality?
Ugh im remembering now she’d yell in front of everyone loudky, are you gay? Such a juvenile cruel thing to do. I can remember mean girls in junior high doing things like that putting people on the spot with rude tactless questions
Yep they seem like a pair the two of them
His wife was groomed to defend sexual predators. She denies her sister was drugged and raped by their father also. This couple is grossly overprivileged. I’m glad karma is catching up with him. He is a Cosby rapist. Luring ppl to trust him. He likes to drug women even when he is in a relationship. I absolutely believe these women and the others the police have denied to acknowledge.
Well, I’m glad something’s happening. Even if it’s late.
He was my fav character on That 70s Show, so I’m still bitter that he’s such a terrible human being.
+1
But jeeeeez he is really a crap human being. I used to love watching That 70s Show but since these accusations came to light years ago, I haven’t watched. It’s just gross looking at a person you know is guilty of heinous crimes.
Wow that was a loooooong investigation. I hope justice is served
I wondered if some rape kits were finally processed or if they identified him via one of those ancestry sites. I truly hope it’s open and shut evidence, especially when he has been so willing to attack his accusers in the media.
I don’t think it was a matter of trying to identify him. If I remember correctly from the prior news stories, his position was that all of these women all had consensual sex with him.
Jackie Lacey District Attorney of LA is up for a run off in the coming election and she needs to be seen to be doing SOMETHING about this investigation that she has refused to prosecute no matter ALL THE FREAKING evidence they have because she loves that scientology money. She has also never prosecuted a dirty cop, so you can see she’s reading the tea leaves. Whatever the reason I’m so glad these women are (hopefully) going to see some justice.
About time – this is been in the public domains for years, plus the fact that the authorities and the victims are taking action shows how little influence Scientology now actually has. His ‘church’ is not able to protect him anymore.
Karma is here!
Digital Unicorn, I don’t understand how the Church of Zealots has been able to escape the law for so long. They should have been investigated for intimidation, held against will, labor practices, and on, and on, and on to all of their illegal activities. They are almost as bad as police unions, given the power and persuasion they have.
I hope that no one can save him now. His wife should be run out of town once he is convicted and sent to prison for a nice long time and placed in a prison of vicious criminals.
I’m glad this is happening, even if it’s a couple decades late. I hope they are able to convict him. If they are able to finally arrest Masterson considering all the insulation and attacks on his victims from the Scientologists, can they finally get Bryan Singer too?
See, police? This is the kind of stuff you should be doing right now to prove you’re useful. Not assaulting protestors.
+ 1
Which cases are they actually prosecuting? The ones from 2001+2003 are past the statute of limitations. It wasn’t until Cosby in 2016 that California got rid of the limits, and that only applies to cases from 2017 and on. Unless I’m reading things wrong.
So glad this rapist will hopefully receive justice. He’s so creepy.
That top photo, he looks like a serial killer.
Yes, there is something quite off about his eyes. Funny, I never could stand his character on That 70’s Show. I just got the sense he was an arrogant asshole.
Bravo, I wish him a long and happy life in prison. Suck it Xenu.
They killed one victim’s dog. I’m pissed.
I read that too! While it’s probably not possible to actually prove that Scientologists poisoned a dog, certainly wouldn’t put it past them. Their record of stalking, terrorising and using illegal tactics is well documented. I hope that Masterton and the whole cult is brought down for their crimes
I think Bijou Philips also posted videos making fun of the woman whose dogs they killed. It seems to me that that’s pretty solid inculpatory evidence of continued harassment beyond the death of those dogs, but I’m not a lawyer, so I could be wrong.
I always enjoyed “That 70’s show”. I remember watching a “behind the scenes” on the show and I was surprised to learn that Topher Grace did not get along with Danny Masterson, Ashton Kutcher, and Wilmer Valderrama. Hearing stories now from that time, I think all 3 were definitely not the people you wanted them to be.
Wrong placement of comment. Sorry.
Yeah, now that you mention it I remember hearing that too! And it was framed like “Topher Grace is difficult.” Which, maybe that’s true, but given what we’ve since learned about Masterson, Valderrama and Kutcher (especially the first two – unless there’s some dirt on Kutcher I’m forgetting/don’t know) it seems more likely that Grace had good reason not to “get along” with them.
I follow Cedric Bixler from At the Drive in on IG and his wife is one of Masterson’s alleged victims. Her and Bixler have been very vocal about Masterson and Scientology. Their dog has been killed and Bijou Phillips has mocked his wife on IG multiple times.
Now it looks like Phillips has deleted all of her IG posts from 2020.
I’m glad he is finally facing charges for this.
I can never get over that Cedric and Beto O’Rourke were bandmates. Blows my mind.
I never met Beto but I met Cedric several times because I was good friends with one of the guys who would eventually go on to form At the Drive In. He’s a cool dude and a hell of a musician.
This could be a real clusterf for some Hollywood celebs. Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have maintained close relationships with Masterson all through the allegations. Dax Shepard took over for Masterson in The Ranch and has infamously said in his podcast with Casey Affleck that women lie about rape. The Masterson family is highly connected in Scientology and throughout Hollywood. Michael Pena and Jason Dohring have hosted Scientology charity golf outings with Masterson after the allegations surfaced. Danny’s sister Allana is said to be responsible for bringing Riley Keough back into Scientology after Lisa Marie publicly left the religion. It will be interesting to see who publicly stands with Masterson throughout this.
Interesting. Meanwhile I think we are all looking at celeb life and realizing how superficial they are. Celebrity worship itself is falling, so Scientology and all the connections can fall with it.
Wow I honestly didn’t think he’s ever going to answer for his crime. Its known that scientology has police on payroll. The corrupt department probably got spooked from the protests and decided the money wasnt worth it
I’m now feeling guilty because I thought Bijou Phillips and Busy Phillipps were the same person (with Busy being a nickname for Bijou) and I’ve spent the last few years feeling an unwarranted dislike for Busy. It’s only the picture of Bijou here that made me realise my mistake.
Me too, I just figured out that Bijou and Busy are different people. And in figuring that out, learned that they are also not related AND that Busy really, really wishes people wouldn’t get them confused. With the way Bijou conducts herself, I can’t say I blame Busy!
It figures he’s married to that little scuz bucket Bijoux Phillips.
Time to pay the piper Danny. I hope he’s convicted and his victims get some justice.
He’s a Harvey 2.0. Justice happened once, hoping so bad it happens again.
So many times the regular media and social media litigate what both parties did or didn’t do but I’m not seeing it in this case. Probably because the details of his assaults are so gruesome. I really hope the women get some justice. He absolutely thought his celebrity and Scientology connections would shield him from consequences.
Oh Danny boy, the courts the courts are calling.
Have fun with that, you rapist POS. Your scummy cult chronies can’t make this go away now.