The Danny Masterson Rape Case Part 2

For part two, we are going to take a closer look at Scientology as a whole.  Now, we are doing an hour-ish long podcast here… There is a wealth of information out there about the church and the actions they have taken in the past and present.  There are podcasts out there with many many episodes about just the church and the stories of former members.  That is to say, we are covering what we would call “the basics.”  

Growing up in scientology is a YouTube channel hosted by Aaron Smith-Levin who was a scientologist for many years and is now an advocate for those leaving the church. He did recaps every day of trial and has a lot of information about the church and this case specifically if you want to check out his channel. He interviews ex-members extensively and discusses their experiences in which many have detailed harassment and other methods of intimidation and abuse that the victims in this case allege as well. We will link to his channel in the show notes below. 

To start out, let’s talk about what the Church of Scientology is, and its foundations set in place by L. Ron Hubbard.  Scientology describes itself as a religion, and at the core is a belief that each human has a reactive mind that responds to life’s traumas.  Those experiences can cloud the analytic mind and keep people from experiencing reality.  The rules / laws whatever you want to call them were created by L Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer back in the 1950s.  As with any religion, the church’s numbers have grown and shrunk, but the general public mostly knows or hears about Scientology because of the seemingly many number of celebrities that are members of the church.  We all know the names of the people… Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Elizabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), Michael Pena, Giovanni Ribisi, Ethan Suplee… the list goes on and on.  And to anyone listening out there, we aren’t saying that these people are bad or wrong or anything like that. 

There are probably countless people who joined the church who have benefitted from the teachings and it has helped their lives.  People are free to join and practice whatever religion they want, believe whatever they want to believe, and live their lives how they want.. As long as they aren’t hurting others.  

Now, everyone probably knows about the South Park episode that explained what Scientologists believe, if you don’t know what it is or haven’t seen it, it’s just a quick google search away.  It basically goes over the church believing that an alien ruler captured other aliens and killed them, captured their souls on earth, then let them roam free until they attached themselves to mankind, causing all the negativity in our lives.  To be fair, the part they talk about in the episode is something that only members learn about when they’re in the upper echelon of the church.  If you were to ask any regular member, they would most likely say that Xenu plays no role in their religion day to day.  

The Lingo

Here, we are going to just go over a couple of things, some just language used within the church, and some practices….

Auditing: It resembles a blend of a confession and therapy, and is one of the central practices of Scientology.  It’s intended to increase a person’s self-knowledge and remove emotional barriers tied to past experiences.  So, an auditor asks the person being audited a series of questions, with the aim of discovering subconscious memories.  The members have to pay for these audits.  The contents are said to be confidential, except in some cases where the church has used the information from the sessions to blackmail people who have left the church. 

Blow: To leave the church. 

Clear: Basically means that a member has achieved a certain level within the church and is on their way to enlightenment. 

Dianetics: Hubbard described Dianetics as “a spiritual-healing technology” and an “organized science of thought,” though it is overwhelmingly seen in the scientific community as a pseudoscience. 

Suppressive Person: This is used as a catch all term the church uses for anyone who is going against the church.  Critics, both internal and external, are suppressives.  

Disconnection: This one is one of the more controversial practices of the church.  Basically, if someone has been cut off from the church, you are required to cut all contact and sever all ties with them, friends and family members alike, in some cases, couples have been told to no longer communicate or associate with one another.  If someone is labeled a suppressive, members must shun them.  

Office of Special Affairs:  This is the church’s internal police essentially.  They are the ones who investigate anything that needs to be looked into by the church.  They carry out the “fair game” operations we mentioned in episode 1. 

The Sea Org:  A group within the church.  Sea Org members, some of whom are teenagers, sign contracts for up to a billion years of service, and are discouraged from having families of their own. The organization has drawn fire for drafting Scientologist children before they are 18 years old, sequestering them from mainstream life in compounds, and according to some ex-members, holding them as prisoners and requiring them to do forced labor.  

Clearwater Florida:  In the mid 1970s, Scientology purchased a building in Clearwater, an old hotel.  Over the years, the church expanded, with its members buying properties on surrounding blocks.  In 2017 companies controlled by members began buying retail property at an unprecedented rate and spent close to $103 million. In less than three years, they doubled the footprint the church had in the area.  They have the Flag Building, the largest building in Clearwater, covering a city block.  For all intents and purposes, Clearwater serves as a city for scientologists to go to and not worry about what others think, because they are surrounded by like minded people. 

Remember, this is not a cult…..

Let’s Talk a Little About David Miscavige

David Miscavige is only the second leader of the church, following Hubbard.  He is the current leader with the title of Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), a corporation that controls the trademarks and copyrights of Dianetics and Scientology.  He was a deputy to founder L. Ron Hubbard when he was a teenager and joined the Sea Org.  He worked his way up to the Commodore’s Messenger Organization, a group within the Sea Org that carried Hubbard’s orders to fellow members.  

Hubbard suffered a stroke in January of 1986 and passed away a week later.  Leaders of the church at the time said that his body had become an impediment to his work and he decided to “drop his body,” so he could continue his research on a higher plane of existence.  A year after his death, Miscavige was named the chairman of the board.  

Over the years, he has been investigated countless times by authorities or the FBI, suspected of human trafficking or slavery.  He has been the subject of lawsuits involving child abuse, human trafficking, and forced labor.  

David is married to Shelly Miscavige.  Shelly was a member of the Sea Org as well.  Her mother was Mary Florence “Flo” Fike Barnett.  Flo was a long time scientologist, but later in life left the church.  When she left though, she took with her confidential copies of what they called “upper level” documents.  Meaning that they were only supposed to be seen by high ranking officials or members who had made their way up the various levels of the church and achieved enlightenment.  Flo joined the Advanced Ability Center, an independent scientology organization that was formed by former members who had left the main church. 

In September of 1985, Flo was found dead at the age of 52.  She had a gunshot to her head from a rifle.  Her body also had three rifle wounds in her chest.  One was a surface wound, one passed through her breast, and the third passed through her left lung and fractured a rib.  There were superficial slash wounds on her wrists.  During her autopsy it was noted that the wrist wounds were likely several days old.  Her death was ruled as consistent with suicide.  David denied having anything to do with her death, saying it was a “personal tragedy in my family’s life.”  In the company of other witnesses though, it’s said that he told them “That bitch got what she deserved.”

In June of 2007, Shelly’s dad Maurice passed away.  Shelly was taken to the funeral on August 1st 2007 and then taken home.  She has not been seen in public since.   

In 2006, Shelly and David had been on the Freewinds, a cruise ship that the church owned and operated that served as a home base for the Sea Org.  She returned to their home before David did, and people said that she had “visibly changed”  her mood and that physically she “looked cowed.”  A church spokesman said that Shelly had asked him if David was still wearing his wedding band.  Shortly after that, Shelly stopped making public appearances with David.  Then, as we mentioned, the last time anyone has seen her was at her father’s funeral. 

There have been two missing person’s reports filed for Shelly.  One of which was reported by actress Leah Remini.  If you don’t know, Leah, left the church and has spent the years since reporting what she knows about the church and its practices.  Leah said that she first really noticed that Shelly had been missing at the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.  David, who is good friends with Cruise, served as his best man.  Leah told People in 2015 that throughout the night she kept asking different attendees where Shelly was.  She asked one top church official who responded, “I don’t think you have the f—— rank, quite honestly, to ask where Shelly is.” Meaning she wasn’t high enough in the church to ask.  The member she asked has denied this happened, saying that he could “recall observing Ms. Remini’s repeated rude behavior which became so blatant it was a topic of dismayed discussion among other guests, including friends of Ms. Remini.”

Leah claimed that as a consequence of her questions, she was subsequently sent to a church facility in Clearwater, Florida, where she underwent a “Sec Check, Truth Rundown and Reprogramming,” which she alleges involved “intensive and exhaustive forms of interrogation” that could last up to 12 hours a day. 

The missing person’s case that Leah tried to have opened was closed within hours by the LAPD and “unfounded.”  To this day, the public does not know where Shelly is located.  The church hasn’t commented on her location. Lawyers representing David have said  that she is not missing and she devotes her time to the work of the church.  And for all we know, that might actually be true, but it just feels far fetched.  

Leah Remini has been pushing for an investigation into the conflicts of interest  relationship between the Church of Scientology and the Hollywood Division of the LAPD.

Back to Masterson

We have very briefly gone over the church and some of their rules and practices, and to be honest, we barely even scratched the surface.  There are countless  stories about things the church has done.  We hope that what we’ve talked about paints a picture in your mind about what kind of role Scientology could have (and most likely did) played in the victims reporting what happened.  While it’s surely never a straightforward or simple decision, that decision was made even more complicated when the victims took into account what church members might do.  They risked being cut off from every one of their family members or friends and being “shunned.”  They risked and experienced harassment by members of the church.  

We mentioned in part 1 that Masterson was charged with three counts of rape in June of 202o, and after all of the pre-trial hearings and delays, a trial date was set for October of 2022.  We went over some of the victim’s testimonies, and at the end of the nearly  month-long trial, Masterson’s defense team decided not to have him testify on his own behalf or call any witnesses in his defense.  Both parties rested their cases on November 14th and made closing statements.  The jury deliberated for three days and was deadlocked.  Instead of declaring a mistrial, the judge ordered the jury to resume deliberations the week after Thanksgiving.  Once the deliberations resumed though, the jury remained deadlocked, and a mistrial was declared on November 30th, 2022.  

The jury foreman said that the deadlocked jury leaned towards acquitting Masterson on all charges because they found the testimonies of the witnesses inconsistent and implausible.  For example, one Jane Doe testified in court that Masterson threatened her with a gun during the attack, but a firearm was not mentioned when she reported to the police; “The big big problem for her, credibility-wise, was the gun present in the testimony but not in the early reports”

A new trial was held in April and May of 2023.  On May 31st, Masterson was convicted of two of the three counts of forcible rape.  The jury was hung 8 to 4 in favor of conviction on the third charge.  Masterson was held without bail until sentencing in the administrative segregation section of Men’s Central Jail in LA.  In July 2023, the prosecutors said they would not retry him on the third charge.  

Victim Statements & Sentencing

When it was time for sentencing, as you might have thought, there were many letters written to the judge on behalf of Masterson from friends and family, many scientologists themselves.  Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are under fire when it came out that they sent letters to the judge.  Their letters called him a role model, extraordinarily honest, an exceptional character, Kunis said that Masterson had a “tremendous positive influence” on her.  Kutcher said “he is among the few people that I would trust to be alone with my son and daughter.”  When the letters became public, Kutcher and Kunis released a video on Instagram stating that Masterson’s family had asked them to send character letters to the judge, saying “A couple of months ago, Danny and his family reached out to us, and they asked us to write character letters to represent the person that we knew for 25 years so that the judge could take that into full consideration, relative to the sentencing.”  They then went on to say that the letters were only meant for the judge to read and that they didn’t intend for them to undermine any of the victim’s testimonies from the trial. 

Laura Prepon (Donna from ‘70s show) hasn’t made a public statement about Masterson’s conviction and sentencing.  She had dated Masterson’s older brother for 8 years and was a scientologist herself for a time.  In 2021, she gave an interview where she said that she had left the church five years prior.  So, if there was a relationship between her and Masterson, that probably brought it to an end then.  Prepon has said that becoming a mother prompted her to leave the church.  She stays out of the spotlight mostly these days, so it’s not a surprise that she hasn’t made a statement. 

Topher Grace (Eric) also didn’t make a public statement.  Grace left That ‘70s Show in season 7, one year before it ended.  Rumors swirled that he thought he was better than the other cast members and that he didn’t get along with them. But he himself has said that he just wasn’t into the same things they were.  They would go out and party and he was just a “boring” guy who wanted to stay home.  After sentencing, Grace was trending on Twitter (X), with many headlines reading something to the effect of “For years, Topher Grace was depicted like he was a stuck-up asshole for not being besties with the rest of the That ’70s Show cast, but guess who didn’t write a letter in defense of a rapist this year…”  And while Grace didn’t make a statement, his wife did on Instagram, posting a photo of some trees and a blue sky with the following words overlaid on it “To every rape victim that is retraumatized by witnessing society debate and focus their attention on what is going to happen to the RAPIST… I see you.”

Like Grace and Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama hasn’t made a public statement and didn’t write a letter to the judge.  He appeared to be the closest to Masterson of all the cast members. When the allegations against Masterson began to surface, it seems that Wilmer pulled back from his friend.  While he didn’t write a letter or testify on his behalf, Valderrama’s name was brought up several times by his former assistant who wrote a letter on Masterson’s behalf, saying that Masterson “constantly warned his coworkers, like Wilmer, and reminded me as a part of the group that we needed to all act like professionals and be good citizens. “If one of us gets in trouble or gets caught in the spotlight for something negative, the whole cast and crew could suffer. Put the show first and your coworkers first – make wise choices.”

More important than any letters or statements on Masterson’s behalf were the statements given by the victims of his abuse.  Jane Doe 1 closed hers by referring to a report that Masterson himself had written about the night he raped her saying:

“This is a report written by Daniel Masterson, signed, dated December 9th, 2003. In closing, after he describes what he did to me that night and complained that the condoms were becoming dry, he closed with: ‘rape, which I am being accused of, is a felony in the State of California and in the United States, punishable for up to a Life Sentence in prison. *Jane Doe 1 * is claiming in this report, being CC’d to over a dozen people, that I have committed a Felony.’

The defendant has been convicted by a jury of his peers. I think I agree with him that life is an appropriate Sentence. Thank you.”

A section of Jane Doe 2’s statement reads: 

“I close now to say I have not in any way ruined your life, nor did I put you in prison. None of the incredibly brave, strong, beautiful women you raped who testified here put you in prison. You, all by yourself, made all of the craven, abominable choices that put you squarely in this seat.”

Chrissie B: 

“After reporting Mr. Masterson to law enforcement, me and my family started being Fair Gamed by Scientology just as they had threatened they would back in 2002. I have been diagnosed with PTSD, general anxiety, and panic disorder. I also developed severe trichotillomania. I haven’t been diagnosed as agoraphobic but I can count on two hands the amount of times I’ve left my home in the last few years. I have physical health issues. I throw up. I started getting blinding migraines accompanied by visual auras. I go through phases where I have such severe body pains like my nerves and parts of my body are on fire. This, and so much more, is the life sentence Mr. Masterson and Scientology have given me.”

On September 7, 2023, Masterson was sentenced to an indefinite period of 30 years to life in prison, which means he will be eligible for parole after serving 25 and a half years, but can be held in prison for life.  Masterson’s lawyers have said they will appeal the conviction, having found “a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues” with his convictions.  With his conviction and sentencing, the earlier case from August of 2019 is picking up steam again as the victims prepare to do battle against Masterson and the Church of Scientology once more. 

If you or anyone you know are or have been a victim of sexual abuse, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline for help at 1-800-656-4673.