fighting for the truth

Danny Masterson Is the Latest Hollywood Star to Face Rape Allegations

At least four women have shared their stories with Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.
Danny Masterson
Danny Masterson presents an award alongside Ashton Kutcher at the 2017 CMT Music Awards in June.By Jason Davis/WireImage.

Allegations are stacking up against Danny Masterson, the former star of That ‘70s Show and longtime member of the Church of Scientology. The actor has been accused of rape by four women, according to HuffPost, three of whom were also Scientologists. The Los Angeles Police Department began investigating the claims in 2016, but the case against Masterson has curiously stalled, despite the existence of “compelling evidence,” per HuffPost. However, the current post-Harvey Weinstein temperature has apparently lit a fire under it once more.

According to Tony Ortega, a journalist who covers the Church of Scientology, the women who have accused Masterson of rape were interviewed for the docu-series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath—but the episode was shelved amid concerns that it would interfere with the L.A.P.D. investigation. However, now that numerous Hollywood stars and other powerful men have come under fire for sexual-misconduct allegations, questions are rising again about how the Masterson claims will be handled—and what the docu-series will do with the episode it kept off the air.

According to HuffPost, all four women allege that Masterson raped them in the early 2000s. One of the women filed a police report in 2004, claiming that the actor raped her in 2003 while she was “passed out.” When she regained consciousness, she says, she struggled with Masterson until he allegedly choked her and she passed out again.

After she filed the report, the Church of Scientology reportedly submitted 50 affidavits from Scientologists denying the woman’s claims. The case file later “vanished,” according to reporter Yashar Ali.

The L.A.P.D. began interviewing the four women in 2016. “Despite compelling—what one law enforcement source described as ‘overwhelming’—evidence, the charges have not been approved for filing,” Ali notes. The evidence reportedly includes “audiotapes, e-mails sent to and from Scientology officers at the time the alleged rapes happened, forensic computer evidence, and a threatening handwritten letter Masterson sent to one of the alleged victims.”

Masterson is being represented by attorney Marty Singer, the high-profile lawyer who’s previously handled legal issues for Bill Cosby. Singer is also currently representing embattled director Brett Ratner, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women.

According to Tony Ortega, it’s still unclear how A&E will handle the reportedly shelved episode featuring the Masterson accusers. The series is an explosive look at Scientology, highlighting the ways in which members and former members have been manipulated by the Church, so these allegations seem to fall right in its purview.

According to Ortega, Remini and co-star Mike Rinder met with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office earlier this year to discuss the sensitive nature of the episode. “Remini, not wanting to jeopardize the investigation, asked A&E not to air the episode, and the network agreed,” he wrote.

The series is currently in its second season and only has three more episodes left this year. Representatives for Remini have not yet responded to V.F.’s request for comment. In response to the allegations, Masterson’s lawyer told V.F. that the L.A.P.D. “already investigated this matter twice. The first time in 2004 and then again earlier this year. Both investigations have been closed. No charges have been filed against our client. Any suggestion that there is ‘overwhelming’ evidence against Mr. Masterson flies in the face of reason. If there were overwhelming evidence of felony conduct against anyone, let alone a celebrity, law enforcement would arrest and charge that individual immediately.”

In response to allegations that Remini interviewed the accusers for a potential TV episode that was later shelved, Masterson’s lawyer said that he had not heard about such claims. “It doesn’t make sense that one would have anything to do with the other. If any purported episode involving Mr. Masterson was in fact ‘shelved,’ it is more likely that the producers and/or the network made the decision not to air the episode because they were concerned about being sued for defamation rather than law enforcement telling them not to broadcast a TV show,” he said.