The Danny Masterson Rape Case Part 1

DANNY MASTERSON

I think to start out, we should talk a little bit about what to expect from this episode.  We are going to discuss what Masterson was accused and convicted of, including having some excerpts from victim impact statements.  In the court case, the three victims were referred to as Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, and Jane Doe 3, and we will refer to them that way, except for Jane Doe 3, who has been very open about her identity, Chrissy B.  We are going to go over their accounts of what happened as well as what role the Church of Scientology had in the aftermath of their attacks.  This is going to be a two part episode.  In the first, we will focus on the case against Masterson, and in the second, we are going to take a closer look at Scientology and some of the church’s practices.

Just in case you, our dear listener, aren’t aware of who Danny Masterson is, we will start out by going over what put him in a position where he could use his power and influence to do despicable things.  

Masterson was born in March of 1976, putting him at 47 years old at the time of this recording.  He was born and raised in Long Island, New York.  He has an older brother, Christopher, who is also an actor.  Christopher starred in Malcolm In The Middle as “Francis” alongside Frankie Muniz and Bryan Cranston.  Later, Masterson’s half sister, Alanna would star in 61 episodes of The Walking Dead as Tara Chamber.  His half brother, Jordan Masterson is also an actor who has been in various things, but he is probably most well known for a recurring role on Last Man Standing starring Tim Allen. 

Seeing his older brother act, the bug bit Danny at a young age as well.  At the age of four, he started working as a child model and was featured in magazine ads and television commercials.  Around eight years old, he starred in musicals and began acting in different roles.  By the time he hit his teenage years, his singing voice had disappeared and he focused solely on acting.  By the time he was sixteen, he had appeared in over 100 commercials, including national spots for Frosted Flakes, Hardee’s, Hostess, Tang, and Clearasil.  Busy, Busy, Busy….

In the early 1990s, he got the role of Seth in Beethoven’s 2nd and a recurring role in the TV sitcom “Cybill.”  He was in the third and fourth seasons before deciding to move on and audition for a show known originally as “Teenage Wasteland.”  That show’s title was later changed to “That ‘70s Show.” Initially, the casting director expressed hesitation about letting him audition because he was a couple years older than they were looking for, but Masterson’s audition blew them away and he was cast as Steven Hyde, the “tough, funny guy.”  

That ‘70s Show became a huge success for the Fox network and launched its stars into super stardom.  They became household names to many throughout the country.  Masterson starred in all eight seasons of the show.  It opened the doors for other acting jobs in various movies and TV shows.  Masterson starred in the Netflix show “The Ranch,” alongside ‘70s show alum Ashton Kutcher as well as Sam Elliott and Elisha Cuthbert.  In the show, he played Kutcher’s brother “Rooster,” and in the middle of the 20 episode third season, Masterson was written out of the series.  In the show, they said he had a motorcycle accident in which his bike drove off the side of a cliff and he died.  The show brought in Dax Shepard to play a cousin of Kutcher to replace Masterson for the remaining episodes of the third season and the entire 4th season. 

Masterson was the only cast member from That ‘70s Show not invited back to the revival That ‘90s Show, made by Netflix.  It takes place 15 years after ‘70s and centers around Eric and Donna’s daughter staying with her grandparents, Red and Kitty in Point Place, WI and forming bonds with local teenagers.  The character Steven Hyde is never brought up or mentioned throughout the episodes. 

Why was he written out of a show and not invited back to a revival of the show that made him super famous you ask?  Well, he’s a complete and utter shit bag.

Seeking Justice

To speak to the timeline we are going to follow a little bit, we are going to go over what each person testified too, regarding what Masterson did to them.  We are basically going to jump to the trial and go from there.  As we mentioned in our episode summary, in March of 2017, three women went to the LAPD and filed sexual assault allegations against Masterson, who denied the allegations through his agent.  These filings triggered an investigation by the LAPD, and in December of 2017, a fourth victim came forward with assault allegations.  Masterson was then fired from The Ranch by Netflix, the streaming giant released a statement that said “Yesterday was his last day on the show, and production will resume in early 2018 without him.”  Masterson said via a statement that he was “obviously very disappointed in Netflix’s decision to write his character out of the show…”  A few weeks later, a fifth woman came forward and made allegations.  Shortly thereafter, Masterson was dropped by United Talent Agency as a client. 

Over the next three years, the LAPD conducted an investigation into all of the allegations brought forth against Masterson.  On June 17th, 2020, he was charged with raping a 23 year old woman in 2001, a 28 year old woman in early 2003, and a 23 year old woman in late 2003.  He would plead not guilty in January of 2021, and a preliminary hearing began in May of 2021.  It went on for four days, and at the end, judge Charlaine F.  Olmedo said that she found “all three witnesses to be credible and the evidence presented during a preliminary hearing sufficient to support the charges.” She ordered a trial on three counts of rape by force or fear and ordered Masterson to relinquish his passport at the next arraignment in June of 2021.

At that arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges, and his defense team said that the three Jane Does were colluding with one another to take Masterson down.  They also claimed that one of the women had gotten money from Masterson in 2004, after the alleged incidents took place.  A pretrial hearing was set for August of 2021, and Masterson remained free on a 3.3 million dollar bail. 

During this pretrial hearing the judge had to reject several subpoena requests from the defense.  She called them “stunningly overbroad” in the information they were trying to obtain from them.  They included requests for LAPD records relating to David Miscavige (leader of Scientology) and Shelly Miscavige (his wife).  They tried to subpoena the producers for Leah Remini’s show Scientology and the Aftermath, and they tried to subpoena an investigative journalist.  It really seemed like they were just throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what would stick.  

They also filed a motion to dismiss all the charges due to lack of evidence.  Judge Olmedo sent that motion to another judge to review to see if there was any merit to it, and in November of 2020, that judge ruled that the testimony of the alleged victims was credible and sufficient to support the charges.  The trial was set for August of 2022, but was moved to October 11th, 2022.  

Jane Doe 1

Jane Doe 1 as she was called during the trial was a scientologist like Masterson was.  She was a second generation Scientologist.  In April of 2003, she attended a party at Masterson’s house.  At one point during the night, Masterson brought her a drink.  She wasn’t sure what it was, but could see that it was a red cocktail.  Not long after drinking it, she began to feel nauseous and suspiciously drowsy.  She was terrified because after drinking the drink, she also had trouble breathing properly.  Her vision was blurring.  

She testified that around 2 in the morning, Masterson had begun to drag her through the house by her wrists saying something to the effect of “You know the 15 second rule.”  What is the 15 second rule you ask?  Apparently it was known around his parties that he would randomly give someone (I would guess that it was women 100% of the time) 15 seconds to empty out their pockets or remove anything they don’t want to get wet before throwing them into the pool or jacuzzi.  She said that she pulled off her leather boots and was trying to unzip her pants to get them off, but didn’t remember if she was able to.  She knew that she had somewhere to be in the morning and didn’t have a change of clothes or anything, so she didn’t want anything to get wet. 

She remembered that for some reason, she didn’t have what she described as her “normal” strength, she was losing control of her motor skills, and her brain was “blurry.”  The next thing she knew, she was in the jacuzzi.  She was pissed because she had plans in a few hours without a change of clothes.  Someone brought her a towel so she could dry off, but she couldn’t stand up, she knew something was wrong. 

She said she felt like she was going to throw up, and that’s when she heard someone come up from behind her and say “She just needs to throw up.”  It was Masterson, he said that he was going to take her up stairs and shove his fingers down her throat to make her vomit.  At this point Masterson and another man, Luke Watson, were arguing about him taking her upstairs, and it seemed like Luke was trying to keep Masterson from taking her.  He picked her up and she remembered Luke saying something that implied that he didn’t want her alone with Masterson.  Masterson said “She’s my homie. I would never.”

He took her to a bathroom up the stairs, but it was also pointed out during her testimony that there was a much closer bathroom down stairs that he could have taken her to so she could vomit. Once they were in the bathroom, she testified that Masterson shoved his fingers down her throat, and she threw up all over herself.  He said “Oh, you’re disgusting.  You threw up everywhere.”  At that point, she passed out and remembered coming to for brief moments the rest of the night.  

The next thing she remembered was the shower running and him saying “You have got to get in the shower, you’re disgusting.” She said that she didn’t remember taking her clothes off and couldn’t remember if she was naked or just in her underwear, but he was on top of her, soaping her breasts. He told her to take soap from him and when she tried to she dropped it.  He told her to pick it up and when she kept fumbling with it, he grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back up.  He then picked her up from the shower and took her into his bedroom, which was very dark.  She passed out again, and when she came back, he was on top of her and inside of her.  She tried to fight back and shoved a pillow at his face, but he grabbed it and pushed it on her face and she passed out again. 

She came to again and tried to get away and reached towards the night stand.  He grabbed her throat and squeezed  with one hand while holding her wrists with the other.  She testified that she remembered him telling her “…this feels good.  You like this…. You’re not going to tell fucking anybody…”  There was a knock at the door and he stopped and said “Dont move, don’t say a fucking word.”  He went to the door and she passed out again.  She woke back up and rolled off the bet and crawled to a door, not knowing it was a closet.  She went inside and laid there where she passed out again.  She woke later and realized it was daylight and made her way out of the closet, he was on the bed and asked her what the fuck she was doing.  He put her on the bed but didn’t touch her after that.  

Later she got up and went downstairs and asked Luke what happened and he said, “Nope, Nope, Nope, you’re going straight to the president’s office.”  The president he was referring to was the president of the Celebrity Centre, the president happened to be Luke’s mother.  But, as we mentioned, she had plans with her family and met them for a flight to Clearwater, FL.  She was in extreme pain and had difficulty sitting.  About 24 hours after the attack bruises started to appear on her wrists, hips, thighs, and neck. Her younger cousin asked her about them, and she told her that something terrible had happened to her.

Back in LA, Jane Doe 1 went to the “Master At Arms” to report what happened and was told “If you’re going to say the word ‘rape,’ dont say it.  We don’t say that word here.” She was ordered by the church official to not report anything to the LAPD, or she would be declared a Suppressive Person by the church… Again, more on that and what that is and means in part 2. She was told to attend counseling put on by the church, which she had to pay for, $15K.  In these “auditing” sessions, they try to examine any wrongdoings she committed in a past life in order to deserve what had happened to her in her current life. 

In April of 2004, there was a meeting setup between Masterson and Jane Doe 1, for him to hear what it felt like from her perspective and confront what he had done.  He spent the whole time interrupting and cracking jokes, so much so that the official overseeing everything got angry and stopped the meeting all together.  Later in 2004, she heard about another woman who had been assaulted by Masterson, and JD1 wanted to go to the police. She sent a letter to the International Justice Chief (of Scientology) , Mike Ellis, requesting permission to do so without being branded a suppressive person.  

The response was: 

Dear [Jane Doe #1],

Thank you for your letter. You are correct that this situation does need to be resolved for the good of all concerned.

Regarding bringing civil suit against Danny, this is something that you will have to decide for yourself after reviewing the alternatives and possible consequences carefully. If you do decide to go forward with this, you may consider that you have fulfilled your ecclesiastical obligation to inform IJC as covered in HCO PL 7 Mar 1965RB SUPPRESSIVE ACTS SUPPRESSION OF SCIENTOLOGY AND SCIENTOLOGISTS.

Regardless of your decisions in the legal arena, you do need to apply LRH technology as the ultimate solution to any problem.

Love,

Mike Ellis

International Justice Chief

So, to read that, it seems like it gives permission for her to go to the authorities to a non-scientologist.  But to someone who knows the workings of the religion, it sends a clear message that JD1 should think very carefully about what she was considering, because there were clear actions and consequences that would be taken, which she could look up the High Crimes and Suppressive Acts to see them.  The letter was written by a lawyer to be just innocuous enough that a Judge would not see it as threatening, but someone in the church would be able to read between the lines easily. 

In June of 2004, JD1 reported the attack to the police, and they were bombarded with letters and affidavits from Scientologists vouching for Masterson.  They also claimed that JD1 told them that the sex with Masterson was the “best sex she ever had.”  In July of 2004, the police told her that unless more victims came forward or more evidence was found, the case would be closed….

Jane Doe 2

Jane Doe 2 took the stand and talked about how she knew Danny Masterson.  She said that she joined Scientology at the age of 16, when her mother thought she would benefit from it.  She identified Masterson in court and said that they met through the church.  

Towards the end of 2003, she lived a few blocks away from him, and one night she and a friend had gone to a bar called The Well.  Masterson and Luke Watson were there as well.  She said that as they were hanging out, having a few drinks, Masterson was staring at her.. Like menacingly. She said it was very predatorial.  She said that she had seen and talked to him before and it was very innocuous, but this time was completely different.  She said that it made her feel a combination of flattery and intimidation.  Masterson approached and told her to give him her number, which she did. 

A couple of days later, he started texting her… like a lot, all at once.  And it was very commanding stuff, not really talking or asking questions.  She mentions that it was basically “Come over to my house.  Bring a bathing suit.  You’re getting in the pool.”  She said that she tried to “hold her own” so to speak and say no that she wasn’t going to be going in the pool and if he wanted, he could ask her on a date like a normal person would.  But eventually after the texts didn’t stop, she relented and went to his house. 

He answered the door and welcomed her in; she sat on his couch and he handed her a glass of red wine.  She was asked on the stand what she expected from that night and she said maybe some flirting, a kiss or two, nothing more than that.  She asked for a tour of the house, and Masterson didn’t give it to her.  Masterson continued to be demanding and spoke in a voice described in the church as “Tone 40.”  Come to the backyard. Come to the jacuzzi. Take off your clothes right now. Take them off. If you don’t do it, I’m going to do it. I’m going to strip you right here.”

She said that once she was in the jacuzzi, everything just faded basically.  She remembers them making out and kissing.  She hadn’t removed all her clothing, she was wearing a pink camisole and underwear and a bra.  The next thing she remembered was Masterson ordering her to go upstairs to the shower.  She said that it was very domineering and she obeyed him because she was frightened.  She said she kept trying to reject him without angering him. They were both in the shower, and she couldn’t remember if he was naked or not, she mentioned that he might have had shorts on.   They kissed and he put his hands on her groin.  Everything was fuzzy and hazy and she thought he put his fingers in her, then he quickly pulled them out and inserted his penis in her vagina.  

She told him no and to stop but it seemed like he didn’t care.  He stopped for a second.  He told her to go to his bedroom, which she did and told him that they couldn’t have sex.  He kept kissing her, heavier and heavier and she just became more and more out of it as the effects of the drink worsened.  He used his fingers in her vagina and said “Look at your face, look at how your face is.”

From there, he proceeded to rape her repeatedly.  She said that he ravaged her like she was a rag doll, very very rough.  She said that he came on her stomach and went and got a wet, hot towel and cleaned it up, pretending to be a gentleman.  They talked for a couple of hours.  He spoke to her casually about subjects such as his latest Scientology confessional and how Mila Kunis and how pretty he thought she was.  At around 5am, she walked home. JD2 told her mom and best friend about what had happened. She never told the church because she knew she would be in trouble.

Jane Doe 3 (Chrissie Carnell Bixler)

Chrissie B and Masterson dated and lived with one another for six years.  They had met at a party in 1996, when she was a working model.  Within two weeks, they were living together.  She was 18 and he was 22.  

A year into the relationship Masterson became sexually aggressive.  Chrissie would be sleeping and wake up to him having sex with her.  She would push him off.  He would put his hands down her pants in front of his mother.  He also became physically and emotionally abusive. In November 2001, Chrissie woke up to Danny having sex with her and she became angry. “I did something that I knew would make him angry — I pulled his hair. He has rules. No touching the hair, no touching the face.”  Danny responded by hitting her face with a loose fist. “I got angry, screaming at him to get off me. He was still inside me. He finally got off me and spit on me. He did that often. He called me white trash.” Chrissie states that she remembers the incident because it was the first time that he hit her.

In December 2001, Chrissie and Masterson had dinner and she had one or two glasses of wine.  The last thing she remembers is standing up to go home. She woke up the next morning confused and in a lot of pain.  She went downstairs and confronted Danny and indicated that her anus was injured, and he laughed at her.  She asked him if he had sex with her and he replied yes.  She asked if she had been unconscious and he replied yes.  She told him that she was going to report him to the church and he said that was fine.

The next day, Chrissie went to the Ethics Office and talked to her Master At Arms, Miranda Skoggins.  Skoggins told her that you can’t rape someone you are in a relationship with, and told her not to use the word rape again. Skoggins showed her the High Crimes policies in Scientology, one of which is reporting a fellow Scientologist to law enforcement.  Skoggins had Chrissie write a report about the incident, warning her not to use the “r word” and to focus on herself and what she might have done to “pull in” what had happened to her.

In 2016, Chrissie, still a Scientologist at the time, learned of what had happened to Jane Doe #1 from a friend of Masterson’s. Chrissie called RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and asked them “if you’re in a relationship and you’re unconscious and they have sex with you. Is that rape?” The person she was talking to then defined what rape was.  Chrissie said that she just broke down and cried.  

In 2009, Chrissie B married Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the lead singer of the bands At The Drive In and The Mars Volta.  Cedric was a member of Scientology as well at the time, and credited it for the change in his thoughts on drug use.  He said that at time, he was spending over $1k a week on weed, claiming it helped him be more creative.  He said that the church helped him realize he was using it to form a bubble of sorts and avoid people.  

In November of 2017, he tweeted out two tweets saying that Masterson sexually assaulted his wife and that one of the songs he wrote on an At The Drive In album was about it.  He said that the church routinely tried to cover up sexual assaults and silence sexual assault victims.  He called it a “modern day version of The Handmaid’s Tale.”  Chrissie and Cedric both have talked about the harassment that they both suffered at the hands of the church and its members.  

In August of 2019, four women filed a lawsuit against Masterson and the Church of Scientology for the stalking and harassment they experienced from their rape allegations.  They alleged that the church “mobilized an aggressive Fair Game campaign against them.” Each had experienced different forms of this AFTER they left the church.  The tactics ranged from hurting pets (multiple times) to chasing them in cars and filming them, yelling at them, posting online ads for different sexual things with their contact information..  In response, Masterson said “I’m not going to fight my ex-girlfriend in the media like she’s been baiting me to do for more than two years..”  From what I can tell, this trial was kinda put on hold when it became clear that Masterson was going to face charges and a trial.  

In January of 2020, Chrissie and Cedric reported that a second of their family pets had to be euthanized due to being fed rat poison, alleging that both times it was at the hands of Scientologists in response to their repeated public claims about Masterson.  They both released statements about these incidents, and we won’t go into them, but they are heartbreaking.