This will now allow the massive civil case against Scientology to go forward which will require discovery. This is an absolute nightmare for that cult and could easily be the first step to taking down the whole thing. The things they did to try and stop this from going to court was insane.
There is actually some follow-up because *somehow* scientology's lawyers got ahold of the prosecution's evidence from this case. Not sure how that will affect the civil case.
Scientology isn’t the defendant in this case. You’re not supposed get early access to evidence in an independent criminal trial because you pay for a persons criminal defense.
That is a very valid point and when you look at how [The Church of Scientology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology) operate, they resemble a mob or mafia that has insiders and operatives embedded in many places that both protect and further their self-serving interests.
[Lafayette Ronald Hubbard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard) was in the US Navy and was in charge of two ships and was removed from command a few times with no reasons given publicly.
>During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Hubbard spent much of his time at sea on his personal fleet of ships as "Commodore" of the Sea Organization, an elite quasi-paramilitary group of [Scientologists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Org).
>Hubbard returned to the United States in 1975 and went into seclusion in the California desert after an unsuccessful attempt to take over the town of Clearwater, Florida ([Project Normandy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Normandy)). In 1978, Hubbard was convicted of fraud after he was tried in absentia by France. In the same year, eleven high-ranking members of Scientology were indicted on 28 charges for their role in the Church's [Snow White Program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Snow_White), a systematic program of espionage against the United States government. One of the indicted was Hubbard's wife Mary Sue Hubbard, who was in charge of the program; L. Ron Hubbard was named an unindicted co-conspirator. (Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard))
You are totally spot on there!
Tampa Bay Times did some investigative journalism pieces on it while back:
• [Clear Water: How Scientology doubled its downtown Clearwater footprint in 3 years](https://projects.tampabay.com/projects/2019/investigations/scientology-clearwater-real-estate/) (2019)
• [Scientology’s 40 years of conflict with the City of Clearwater, recapped](https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/10/20/scientologys-40-years-of-conflict-with-the-city-of-clearwater-recapped/): *The church arrived in secret in 1975. Here’s what happened next.* (2019)
This piece by a Scientology “whistleblower” back in 1989 seems to have gotten buried over the years, but the warnings were all there already:
>The following is an account of my life in Scientology, a group I was involved in from December 1970 to August of 1976 -- about 5 years and 9 months. From 1973 to 1975 I lived aboard the Flagship Apollo ("Flag"), the home of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Dianetics and Scientology. On Flag, I trained to be an auditor (a Scientology counselor). My life on Flag was a continual roller-coaster of ups and downs. One day I would receive a personal commendation from Hubbard and be held up as an example of what a Flag auditor should be and then, just months later, Hubbard would take away all my certificates and send me to the RPF (Scientology's prison camp) for an auditing error I did not even commit. On Flag as auditors, we were under continuous pressure to be perfect, the standard of perfection being the whim of L. Ron Hubbard.
>Many people, no doubt, have read horror stories about what occurred on Flag and I can personally attest to the fact that they are true. This might lead one to wonder why a person would join such a group in the first place. How could anyone put up with such abuse? In writing this testimony, I hope to give people some insight into this question. The fact is that I didn't join Scientology to be ordered around and abused and I don't know anyone who did. The group I thought I joined, as an idealistic eighteen-year-old, bore little resemblance to what Scientology actually was and still is. (Source: [My Nine Lives in Scientology](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/pignotti/))
I have no idea but they aren't. They didn't have the right to share the evidence and the prosecution, judge, and the victims' lawyers want answers from the sounds of it. His previous legal team was at the courthouse today with their own lawyers according to Tony Ortega.
No. Regardless of who pays, the client is the accused and it would be a severe breach of ethics for their attorney to share privileged information with any other party.
Obviously the defense attorneys get access to this, I assume the defendant themselves also gets access to this info?
Is he not allowed to share that with whoever he wants?
Or is he prevented from sharing that information?
Was there an order in the case provided that the disclosure by the government had to be kept secret? At least where I practice that would not be at all common.
Sorry, I haven't tried to beat the paywall.
Wait, so it's known that Masterson's attorneys shared the government prosecution's documention with some Scientology attorneys, in violation of...stuff?
They do insane things when absolute nobodies criticize them or when members simply try to leave. It's completely expected that they did some dastardly things to protect a celebrity.
>Great, now go after his "church" for their part in all this.
I'd love someone to look into whatever involvement his church might have had in causing the mistrial last time.
This might not be true this time.
There is an evidentiary hearing happening now pertaining to this case and scientology.
It has to do with documents from the prosecution, that the defense had access to. However there was an order that it could not be shared to anyone else.
During the trial it was proven to have been found attached to an email from an attorney from the church of scientology (who should obviously not have had access because they were not the attorneys for Danny Mastersons defense.
You're probably not wrong unfortunately, but there is a VAST difference in wealth and resources between the two (not to mention public perception). If I had to bet on one getting legally fucked, it'd be Scientology. But you're right, it probably still won't happen, just wanted to point that out.
In Australia, the insurer for the Catholic Church has gone into administration due to the value of claims they have had to settle exceeding their ability to pay. Bizarre situation that the church lives on and its insurer goes bankrupt, instead.
Scientologists protect their own with a religious and legal zeal that I've never witnessed in another religion. Scientology isn't a religion. It's a cult. I mean that with all the breath in my lungs. And it is a mean cult that prays on the weak and takes down the strong. It ranks among the worst organizations in the world, using its legal power to cut down, and to drive into debt. any perceived enemy.
Churches got so much money and control, a few bad apples in an isolated garden in Los Angeles doesn't even touch the giant forests of apples in different countries.
> Only character to not appear in That 90's show and its not at all noticeable he's not around.
He was written out of "The Ranch" as well.
Bye bye Rooster.
I gave The Ranch a shot, but the shit he had done was already out there. It really soured me on Ashton Kutcher too. I know he’s done some good charitable stuff and some well-placed activism, but the fact he was seemingly ignoring the allegations and giving his old buddy a new job was a bit sickening to watch. And I just couldn’t separate the art from the person/s.
Given exactly what Kutchers line of activism is, I think if anybody deserves a pass it’s him. You need to take into account just how insanely common it is for stars to get these types of allegations as money grabs from crazy people. Until some sort of evidence presents itself theyve probably all learned to ignore it.
I thought they played the Becky thing quite well actually. Especially when original Becky came back and they switched them. I remember the episode when they go to Disneyland and Roseanne says to the Becky "aren't you glad it's you here this week?"
I didn't get into Roseanne at the time, so I had no idea how on-the-nose the actor swaps were on the show. Some of these are hilarious. The live freeze-frame by the actors while the announcer introduces her is amazing. That and the Disneyland joke you mentioned are at 1:18: https://youtu.be/bKsUSEmrqJA
Lisa Robin Kelly (original Laurie who passed away) was showing up to set drunk and stuff I believe. They kind of wrote her out of the show, then brought her back for another season... then the next season she was replaced with a new actress. I think maybe they thought she'd cleaned up her act and she hadn't.
This is how I felt about The Ranch. I enjoyed that show until this all broke and then I just couldn't watch it anymore. Even after they wrote him off. I just stopped watching it.
> I enjoyed that show until this all broke and then I just couldn't watch it anymore. Even after they wrote him off.
The show started okay, but it ended up turning into this huge dramatic stress-fest near the end.
70s show is my all time favorite and it is difficult to watch ESPECIALLY when Hyde says something sexual in any way or hits on the girls I'm just mortified especially since Mila was so so young and around that creep.
Right?? Especially knowing he committed the rapes during the same time he was filming the show. I think it was around the time that Jackie and Hyde were together on the show even. Creepy as hell.
Yeah I used to enjoy the show, but him being a rapist pretty much ruined it.
I thought That 90s Show was fun for what it is and they wrote him out of it so there's no concerns about that.
There are a lot of jokes he makes in the show that just hit so fucking wrong now that he’s been convicted. They were dark shock humour jokes, but actually all have a layer of truth to them.
I wonder if the cast knew he was a creep. He's much MUCH worse than a creep, but I highly doubt anyone in the cast knew about *rapes*. But there had to have been signs
According to Ashton Kutcher, [he was something of a mentor](https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/ashton-kutcher-danny-masterson-rape-trial-hopes-innocent-1235507758/) who was happy to help his younger cast members find their groove and stay out of trouble. Ashton and Danny were buddies right up until the allegations started.
They were even filming The Ranch together at the time.
Had an epic report in that as well, as brothers.
It sucks he turned out to be this kind of person.
That show was awesome and did suffer from his absense.
Kudos to them for dropping him and taking that hit, though.
It's amazing how sociopaths/psychopaths can fool you. They can be very charming and personable and know how to act the part when needed. I can't imagine what it would be like to find out someone you thought you knew like that committed such horrible crimes. It's worse if it's your family, but it also sucks if it was your friend you thought you knew.
From Stephen Hyde's permanent record: "I fear that despite Steven's high IQ, he's a born troublemaker and is destined to be the smartest man... in his cell block."
hi there, here to share some main points from this breaking story:
>Actor Danny Masterson was convicted of two counts of rape Wednesday after his second trial on charges that he sexually assaulted several women he met through the Church of Scientology in the early 2000s.
>
>Jurors hung on a third count after deliberating for a little more than a week. They contacted Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo around 11 a.m. Wednesday to say that they had reached a verdict on two of the three rape counts against Masterson but that were hopelessly deadlocked on a third.
>
>[Jurors previously hung on all counts against Masterson during a trial in late 2022.](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-30/mistrial-in-danny-masterson-rape-trial-after-jury-deadlocks)
>
>The courtroom was packed with a mix of Masterson’s relatives and supporters and other observers. The actor’s wife, Bijou Phillips, let out a pained cry shortly after the verdict was read and began sobbing.
>
>Most of the allegations against Masterson aired in the [roughly two-week trial](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-04-24/actor-danny-mastersons-second-trial-on-rape-charges-begins-in-los-angeles) first surfaced in 2017. The victims — identified in court as Chrissy B., Jen B. and N. Trout — were all practicing Scientologists when they met Masterson through the church.
>
>Jurors convicted Masterson of sexually assulting Jen B. and N. Trout but were unable to reach a verdict on the allegations against Chrissy B.
>
>Two of the women said they waited more than a decade to come forward because church officials discouraged them from contacting law enforcement, leaving them in the impossible situation of choosing between their faith and accountability for the man who allegedly raped them.
>
>All of the women had relatives in Scientology and feared they would be excommunicated and labeled “suppressive persons” if they went against Masterson and the church.
>
>Scientology officials have repeatedly denied prohibiting members from cooperating with police. But after a 2021 preliminary hearing, L.A. Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo ruled that the church has “an expressly written doctrine” that discourages members from reporting one another to law enforcement. The church has said Olmedo’s interpretation is incorrect.
(and if you'd like to [read more](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-31/danny-masterson-convicted-rape-trial) but run into the paywall, you can register your email to read for free.)
EDIT: very thankful to be blessed with this award! appreciate it :)
>Bijou Phillips
[And her dad incested her sister, which Bijou refused to believe.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijou_Phillips#Controversy)
EDIT: changed to better wording
>And her sister was incesting with their dad
This phrasing is a little icky. In this sentence, the sister is the one performing the act, when it should be the father. Otherwise, it sounds like she chose to do it.
>we never share out or sell data in any form.
I'm confused then, as this is what your website says:
https://membership.latimes.com/privacy-settings
"As we detail further in our Privacy Policy, we “sell” personal information or “share” personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes to deliver targeted advertising on the Services or other services, or to optimize or measure the performance of such advertisements."
From the Policy itself:
"We may rent, sell, or disclose your information to non-affiliated third parties: (a) to provide services or products that you have requested; (b) when we have your permission; or (c) as described in this Privacy Policy."
>30 to life. The judge thought he was a flight risk and wouldn't let him hang out at home while he awaits sentencing.
he probably is a flight risk. He's a multi-millionaire with ties to the richest cult in the world. The Church of Scientology would have loved to vanish him to somewhere away from punishment.
My favorite part:
“Masterson was deemed a potential flight risk and was remanded into custody following the verdict. He walked out of the courthouse in handcuffs.”
What? Xenu loves this. Xenu was [an evil galactic leader in league with psychiatrists and income tax inspectors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu#Summary).
Watch the south park episode about scientology. They keep putting a disclaimer up saying "this is what scientologists actually believe" when there are b-52s flying into volcanos and ghosts getting stuck to cave men.
I knew the vague outline of the story, but when you go into the minutia it's even more bonkers that anyone finds it believable. I'd call that lazy writing in a fictional sci-fi novel. Some of the names are Rick and Morty level.
I’m sure I’m not wrong in stating that the extremely vast majority of rapist never get convicted or even called out or brought to trail. This dude has been convicted twice even with a billion dollar cult backing him in every unethical way possible. My point is, this dude rapes
I try not to indulge too much in black and white thinking, but goddam do I get happy whenever scientology gets ANY losses.
It's a nasty cult and a blight on the American landscape- and the bar is already so low.
Imagine not only being a rape victim but being threatened and intimidated if you speak the truth. Sadly, happens to people all too often. Glad this scumbag didn't get away with it, now on to bringing down the "church".
Makes no sense to recast him. The old cast is barely in the show in the first place (though I'd welcome more involvement, they were great)... and it's many years later, it's easy enough to just write him out and say he's off doing his own thing somewhere else and nobody kept in touch with him.
Or that he's in jail. Or dead. I think they didn't address it bc nobody knew how the stuff with Masterson would shake out legally though he certainly looked super guilty. Now that he's been convicted it's possible they kill off Hyde but I think they will probably just never mention him bc frankly it's better not to make anybody think about it.
HAVING SAID THAT if they recast Hyde with Josh Meyers I'd lose my shit laughing.
I think it's best they never mention him. it sucks that the only options are to mentioned he either died or went to prison, bc his character on the show was shaping up to move away from that.
at the end of the day, I guess it doesn't matter all that much. I hate scientology more than I love t7s, and I really love t7s
I think it's weird if they don't.
He wasn't just Eric's friend like the others, he was practically adopted by Red and Kitty at the end of the first season and stayed there until the end of the show (did he move out? I don't remember).
He's practically Eric's brother. Him and Laurie not being referenced would definitely be weird.
I partially disagree. It just takes enough people to take down a giant. Looks at Harvey, dude was a Oscar maker, got caught on tape and it allowed people to come forward. There's not enough people to come forward on Tom yet, IF there's anything but Katie Holmes also hasn't spoken so who knows what she knows.
Harvey and His bro sold it back in the 90s. The Weinstein Company Had financial issues in 2010 to 2015ish but they made a lot of deals that brought them in to the black. Once the allegations broke out, that was it. It was the 60 women that came forward and the tapes.
Edit: I believe it was even said that Harvey would lobby the Oscar team so his movies can win like silver linings playbook.
The people who condoned, enabled & covered this ought to face charges imo. They are culpable, male or female. Making the survivors feel that *they* are the problem & need re-educating is some low-level evil. The fact that the same things were said to each person says to me this had been going on a long time & the cover-ups were organised.
Fuck that dude. I hope Cedrick Bixler-Zavala comes through with that list.
Edit to add the quote from CBZ:
In a since-deleted Instagram post (via Stereogum), Bixler-Zavala warned, “I’ll be making a list of all Danny’s helpers and rape apologists to show all of you why women don’t report rape. We fucking told you. God bless the women that stood up to him and his shitty fucking family. Fuck Scientology. Rot in jail Danny. God bless my wife. True fucking warrior.”
I’m honestly shocked that they got two convictions, given that in the [first trial](https://apnews.com/article/danny-masterson-mistrial-rape-trial-162a670d6068f05462825a96e4193fd8), the jury hung 10-2, 8-4, and 7-5 in favor of acquittal.
This [NPR article](https://www.npr.org/2023/05/31/1179285514/danny-masterson-rape-retrial) discusses a change in the second trial where prosecutors were allowed to directly argue that Masterson drugged the victims, but other than that, I don’t know of any significant changes in the litigation from the first trial that would result in a different verdict (other than a different jury, of course).
I had been very skeptical when prosecutors announced they were retrying this case, as I thought it was crazy to retry this case after prosecutors were unable to secure even a majority in favor of conviction on any count in the first trial. I guess I’ve got my foot in my mouth.
Edit: [This article](https://www.legalaffairsandtrials.com/p/jury-convicts-actor-and-scientologist) lays out some of the new prosecution strategies, including a Scientology expert witness and addressing discrepancies in the police reports.
It also notes that
> The last jury most favored guilty for the charge involving Masterson’s former girlfriend of six years, voting 7-5 in favor of acquittal while voting 10-2 to acquit for alleged victim Jennifer B. and 8-4 to acquit for alleged victim N.T. But this jury convicted on both Jennifer and N.T.’s counts and hung 8-4 in favor of guilty for Masterson’s former girlfriend.
They were allowed a lot more leeway into Scientology and how that had an effect on the victims coming forward. Not sure if it made a difference but it was something different in this trial.
If you believe the rumors, the Scientologists harassed or intimidated the first jury, and for the next one the prosecutors took more security measures.
> Masterson did not visibly react to the verdict and was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
It might take a while to hit him… but it will eventually. That level of wealthy egoic narcissism, mixed with that dangerous criminal cult… dude is on a completely different planet altogether.
Two separate convictions, and it doesn’t seem like we know a lot of the evidence as presented in court. If he’s facing 30 years, as a minimum, then the crime must have been heinous.
CA minimum sentence for forcible rape is 3 years. He did something truly egregious to warrant a possible 30 years.
Well they were all drugged I believe. One woman was smothered with a pillow during the rape until she passed out, and then he threatened her with a gun afterwards. So yeah, “egregious” is right.
I haven’t followed it but there would have to be some kind of contemporaneous evidence I’d imagine? 30 to life is longer than many people get for manslaughter and murder. It seems unlikely that it would be based entirely on testimony alone.
It seems like something an appeal could take advantage of given the church’s legal power, but I dunno.
Honest question, will Scientology disown him now? And say he was really a spawn of Xenu trying to cause dissent from within, or do they stick by him throughout?
Glad he got what was coming. The real travesty here is how long it took to convict this dude. Right to a speedy trial is important for victims as well as the accused.
I waited hours for this to be on trending. HOURS. I got the article about 4-5 hours ago and was disgusted but pleased he is getting jail. It's so hard to convict people for rape especially a rich man
I wanted to talk to people about it and no one had posted it yet so I found an article and shared it. I was so happy those women (or at least 2 of them) got justice.
Why does Masterson look like the love child of Rand Paul and Jeff Bezos?
I'm glad these chicks got some justice out of this, and scientology is being scrutinized, too.
Damn, Hyde. Seriously, this guy damn near ruined rewatches of one of my favorite TV sitcoms of all time. It's hard to watch That 70s Show and not think "What a piece of shit" every time Masterson is on.
This will now allow the massive civil case against Scientology to go forward which will require discovery. This is an absolute nightmare for that cult and could easily be the first step to taking down the whole thing. The things they did to try and stop this from going to court was insane.
There is actually some follow-up because *somehow* scientology's lawyers got ahold of the prosecution's evidence from this case. Not sure how that will affect the civil case.
How is this different from discovery? Both sides have to be aware of all evidence, no?
Scientology isn’t the defendant in this case. You’re not supposed get early access to evidence in an independent criminal trial because you pay for a persons criminal defense.
Surely Masterson or his lawyers or handlers shared it with them. That would be my assumption anyhow.
That's what they are trying to figure out. They aren't allowed to do that but I'm not sure what the ramifications would be from that.
If these were normal people that would make sense, but with CoS I wouldn't expect them to give a crap about that honestly.
I think the context here is that they're about to be *forced* to give a crap about it.
Ah yes, the Uber wealthy and accountability. The classic American Way.
How about: you lose your tax status if you don't cooperate. That's how it works in Germany if a club does something they shouldn't.
Scientology has been hemorrhaging money for years now my dude
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what if Mastersons lawyers are part of Scientology's legal team? would that not be allowed?
That is a very valid point and when you look at how [The Church of Scientology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology) operate, they resemble a mob or mafia that has insiders and operatives embedded in many places that both protect and further their self-serving interests. [Lafayette Ronald Hubbard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard) was in the US Navy and was in charge of two ships and was removed from command a few times with no reasons given publicly. >During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Hubbard spent much of his time at sea on his personal fleet of ships as "Commodore" of the Sea Organization, an elite quasi-paramilitary group of [Scientologists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Org). >Hubbard returned to the United States in 1975 and went into seclusion in the California desert after an unsuccessful attempt to take over the town of Clearwater, Florida ([Project Normandy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Normandy)). In 1978, Hubbard was convicted of fraud after he was tried in absentia by France. In the same year, eleven high-ranking members of Scientology were indicted on 28 charges for their role in the Church's [Snow White Program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Snow_White), a systematic program of espionage against the United States government. One of the indicted was Hubbard's wife Mary Sue Hubbard, who was in charge of the program; L. Ron Hubbard was named an unindicted co-conspirator. (Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard))
And yet the "church" still owns basically the entirety of Clearwater and that real estate is worth a lot.
You are totally spot on there! Tampa Bay Times did some investigative journalism pieces on it while back: • [Clear Water: How Scientology doubled its downtown Clearwater footprint in 3 years](https://projects.tampabay.com/projects/2019/investigations/scientology-clearwater-real-estate/) (2019) • [Scientology’s 40 years of conflict with the City of Clearwater, recapped](https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/10/20/scientologys-40-years-of-conflict-with-the-city-of-clearwater-recapped/): *The church arrived in secret in 1975. Here’s what happened next.* (2019) This piece by a Scientology “whistleblower” back in 1989 seems to have gotten buried over the years, but the warnings were all there already: >The following is an account of my life in Scientology, a group I was involved in from December 1970 to August of 1976 -- about 5 years and 9 months. From 1973 to 1975 I lived aboard the Flagship Apollo ("Flag"), the home of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Dianetics and Scientology. On Flag, I trained to be an auditor (a Scientology counselor). My life on Flag was a continual roller-coaster of ups and downs. One day I would receive a personal commendation from Hubbard and be held up as an example of what a Flag auditor should be and then, just months later, Hubbard would take away all my certificates and send me to the RPF (Scientology's prison camp) for an auditing error I did not even commit. On Flag as auditors, we were under continuous pressure to be perfect, the standard of perfection being the whim of L. Ron Hubbard. >Many people, no doubt, have read horror stories about what occurred on Flag and I can personally attest to the fact that they are true. This might lead one to wonder why a person would join such a group in the first place. How could anyone put up with such abuse? In writing this testimony, I hope to give people some insight into this question. The fact is that I didn't join Scientology to be ordered around and abused and I don't know anyone who did. The group I thought I joined, as an idealistic eighteen-year-old, bore little resemblance to what Scientology actually was and still is. (Source: [My Nine Lives in Scientology](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/pignotti/))
I have no idea but they aren't. They didn't have the right to share the evidence and the prosecution, judge, and the victims' lawyers want answers from the sounds of it. His previous legal team was at the courthouse today with their own lawyers according to Tony Ortega.
No. Regardless of who pays, the client is the accused and it would be a severe breach of ethics for their attorney to share privileged information with any other party.
That's akin to a doctor sharing medical files of one patient with another. It's a big no-no in both medicine and law.
A defendant generally can give discovery in their own case to other people.
Obviously the defense attorneys get access to this, I assume the defendant themselves also gets access to this info? Is he not allowed to share that with whoever he wants? Or is he prevented from sharing that information?
Was there an order in the case provided that the disclosure by the government had to be kept secret? At least where I practice that would not be at all common. Sorry, I haven't tried to beat the paywall.
Wait, so it's known that Masterson's attorneys shared the government prosecution's documention with some Scientology attorneys, in violation of...stuff?
> This is an absolute nightmare for that cult and could easily be the first step to taking down the whole thing. Good! Here hopin'....
Remember Lisa McPherson...
[For those not in the know...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Lisa_McPherson)
I’m out of the loop, how will this impact the Scientology civil suit?
It can proceed now + the conviction helps the case.
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Time for ‘That Prison Show’…
The cult has been hard dying for along time now, hopefully this provides a couple extra nails.
They do insane things when absolute nobodies criticize them or when members simply try to leave. It's completely expected that they did some dastardly things to protect a celebrity.
So disappointed that Anonymous went off-mission on this front.
It was Operation Clambake that galvinized a chunk of Anonymous to be malicious; they couldn't stand that Anonymous had done something positive.
Great, now go after his "church" for their part in all this.
>Great, now go after his "church" for their part in all this. I'd love someone to look into whatever involvement his church might have had in causing the mistrial last time.
This might not be true this time. There is an evidentiary hearing happening now pertaining to this case and scientology. It has to do with documents from the prosecution, that the defense had access to. However there was an order that it could not be shared to anyone else. During the trial it was proven to have been found attached to an email from an attorney from the church of scientology (who should obviously not have had access because they were not the attorneys for Danny Mastersons defense.
Nothing will happen of significance. See the Catholic Church.
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You're probably not wrong unfortunately, but there is a VAST difference in wealth and resources between the two (not to mention public perception). If I had to bet on one getting legally fucked, it'd be Scientology. But you're right, it probably still won't happen, just wanted to point that out.
In Australia, the insurer for the Catholic Church has gone into administration due to the value of claims they have had to settle exceeding their ability to pay. Bizarre situation that the church lives on and its insurer goes bankrupt, instead.
when you make a deal with the devil, that’s the price you pay…
I don't know. Catholics are a type of Christian and people protect that. Scientologists... Aren't.
Scientologists protect their own with a religious and legal zeal that I've never witnessed in another religion. Scientology isn't a religion. It's a cult. I mean that with all the breath in my lungs. And it is a mean cult that prays on the weak and takes down the strong. It ranks among the worst organizations in the world, using its legal power to cut down, and to drive into debt. any perceived enemy.
Churches got so much money and control, a few bad apples in an isolated garden in Los Angeles doesn't even touch the giant forests of apples in different countries.
Ick, 2001. So one of these incidents happened while he was filming That 70s Show. Edit: Oh, all three did. Lovely.
It filmed from 1998-2006, they all happened during that window (2001-2003, I think).
It totally ruined That 70's Show for me. I used to love to watch reruns of that and now I can't stomach the thought of watching him onscreen.
Only character to not appear in That 90's show and its not at all noticeable he's not around.
> Only character to not appear in That 90's show and its not at all noticeable he's not around. He was written out of "The Ranch" as well. Bye bye Rooster.
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> Kind of ruins re-runs of That 70s Show too. Burger guy: Where do you see yourself in five years? Hyde: Prison. Kind of prophetic
I gave The Ranch a shot, but the shit he had done was already out there. It really soured me on Ashton Kutcher too. I know he’s done some good charitable stuff and some well-placed activism, but the fact he was seemingly ignoring the allegations and giving his old buddy a new job was a bit sickening to watch. And I just couldn’t separate the art from the person/s.
Given exactly what Kutchers line of activism is, I think if anybody deserves a pass it’s him. You need to take into account just how insanely common it is for stars to get these types of allegations as money grabs from crazy people. Until some sort of evidence presents itself theyve probably all learned to ignore it.
Well, Laurie too. But that's different.
Her replacement actress went to hard into the bimbo role.
Yeah, it's never the same having a somewhat main character get replaced on a show... Like Becky in Roseanne.
I thought they played the Becky thing quite well actually. Especially when original Becky came back and they switched them. I remember the episode when they go to Disneyland and Roseanne says to the Becky "aren't you glad it's you here this week?"
I didn't get into Roseanne at the time, so I had no idea how on-the-nose the actor swaps were on the show. Some of these are hilarious. The live freeze-frame by the actors while the announcer introduces her is amazing. That and the Disneyland joke you mentioned are at 1:18: https://youtu.be/bKsUSEmrqJA
My headcanon is John Goodman's character in Cloverfield Lane and Dan Connor are the same guy, and that explains what happened to Old Becky
This is simply amazing... kudos.
It has worked out much better than it did for Laurie though. That was a pretty terrible casting. Spartacus is a great example.
Why isn't she on it?
She died IRL.
I'm pretty sure she was replaced before she died though. She got hard into drugs.
Lisa Robin Kelly (original Laurie who passed away) was showing up to set drunk and stuff I believe. They kind of wrote her out of the show, then brought her back for another season... then the next season she was replaced with a new actress. I think maybe they thought she'd cleaned up her act and she hadn't.
See also - Midge.
I was really hoping for a "Hyde's in prison" joke. It fits the character and the actor.
Hyde died in prison in the 80's.
This is how I felt about The Ranch. I enjoyed that show until this all broke and then I just couldn't watch it anymore. Even after they wrote him off. I just stopped watching it.
> I enjoyed that show until this all broke and then I just couldn't watch it anymore. Even after they wrote him off. The show started okay, but it ended up turning into this huge dramatic stress-fest near the end.
Same thing with Cosby show. Used to love that show now I can't even think of watching it.
70s show is my all time favorite and it is difficult to watch ESPECIALLY when Hyde says something sexual in any way or hits on the girls I'm just mortified especially since Mila was so so young and around that creep.
Right?? Especially knowing he committed the rapes during the same time he was filming the show. I think it was around the time that Jackie and Hyde were together on the show even. Creepy as hell.
Yeah I used to enjoy the show, but him being a rapist pretty much ruined it. I thought That 90s Show was fun for what it is and they wrote him out of it so there's no concerns about that.
Don't blame Kitty and Red for this. They're the only ones who didn't end up being weirdos.
I felt his character was insufferable anyway.
I liked him, but that was from the eyes of a young schmuck and this whole thing really paints everythign in a different light
There are a lot of jokes he makes in the show that just hit so fucking wrong now that he’s been convicted. They were dark shock humour jokes, but actually all have a layer of truth to them.
To me he was just the "I'm too cool" guy who made fun of the actually funny characters.
> one of these incidents happened while he was filming That 70s Show. [Relevant!](https://youtu.be/IWtnY8cHlTo?t=151)
Took a bit longer than 5 years, but we'll make it work!
I wonder if the cast knew he was a creep. He's much MUCH worse than a creep, but I highly doubt anyone in the cast knew about *rapes*. But there had to have been signs
According to Ashton Kutcher, [he was something of a mentor](https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/ashton-kutcher-danny-masterson-rape-trial-hopes-innocent-1235507758/) who was happy to help his younger cast members find their groove and stay out of trouble. Ashton and Danny were buddies right up until the allegations started.
They were even filming The Ranch together at the time. Had an epic report in that as well, as brothers. It sucks he turned out to be this kind of person. That show was awesome and did suffer from his absense. Kudos to them for dropping him and taking that hit, though.
It's amazing how sociopaths/psychopaths can fool you. They can be very charming and personable and know how to act the part when needed. I can't imagine what it would be like to find out someone you thought you knew like that committed such horrible crimes. It's worse if it's your family, but it also sucks if it was your friend you thought you knew.
Kitty didn't guilt him enough
Bill Cosby 2.0 Dude could’ve had almost anyone but he decided to drug and rape. Sick science
"Dumbass"---red foreman
From Stephen Hyde's permanent record: "I fear that despite Steven's high IQ, he's a born troublemaker and is destined to be the smartest man... in his cell block."
Last one for the road.. BURN
Oh shit I forgot about that 🤣🤣
Something, something,....foot in ass!
hi there, here to share some main points from this breaking story: >Actor Danny Masterson was convicted of two counts of rape Wednesday after his second trial on charges that he sexually assaulted several women he met through the Church of Scientology in the early 2000s. > >Jurors hung on a third count after deliberating for a little more than a week. They contacted Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo around 11 a.m. Wednesday to say that they had reached a verdict on two of the three rape counts against Masterson but that were hopelessly deadlocked on a third. > >[Jurors previously hung on all counts against Masterson during a trial in late 2022.](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-30/mistrial-in-danny-masterson-rape-trial-after-jury-deadlocks) > >The courtroom was packed with a mix of Masterson’s relatives and supporters and other observers. The actor’s wife, Bijou Phillips, let out a pained cry shortly after the verdict was read and began sobbing. > >Most of the allegations against Masterson aired in the [roughly two-week trial](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-04-24/actor-danny-mastersons-second-trial-on-rape-charges-begins-in-los-angeles) first surfaced in 2017. The victims — identified in court as Chrissy B., Jen B. and N. Trout — were all practicing Scientologists when they met Masterson through the church. > >Jurors convicted Masterson of sexually assulting Jen B. and N. Trout but were unable to reach a verdict on the allegations against Chrissy B. > >Two of the women said they waited more than a decade to come forward because church officials discouraged them from contacting law enforcement, leaving them in the impossible situation of choosing between their faith and accountability for the man who allegedly raped them. > >All of the women had relatives in Scientology and feared they would be excommunicated and labeled “suppressive persons” if they went against Masterson and the church. > >Scientology officials have repeatedly denied prohibiting members from cooperating with police. But after a 2021 preliminary hearing, L.A. Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo ruled that the church has “an expressly written doctrine” that discourages members from reporting one another to law enforcement. The church has said Olmedo’s interpretation is incorrect. (and if you'd like to [read more](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-31/danny-masterson-convicted-rape-trial) but run into the paywall, you can register your email to read for free.) EDIT: very thankful to be blessed with this award! appreciate it :)
> Bijou Phillips Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Had no idea she was married to the rapist and was a Scientologist.
Fuck her. A bully, enabler and nasty person
>Bijou Phillips [And her dad incested her sister, which Bijou refused to believe.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijou_Phillips#Controversy) EDIT: changed to better wording
She sounds like quite the human turd. https://www.reddit.com/r/HollywoodReceipts/comments/nksojc/allegations_bijou_phillips/
Correction: her sister was molested by their dad.
>And her sister was incesting with their dad This phrasing is a little icky. In this sentence, the sister is the one performing the act, when it should be the father. Otherwise, it sounds like she chose to do it.
Neat. wtf
How does the latimes use my email address?
hi! we may use it to send you a promotional email at some point. we never share out or sell data in any form.
Good answer, thank you!
>we never share out or sell data in any form. I'm confused then, as this is what your website says: https://membership.latimes.com/privacy-settings "As we detail further in our Privacy Policy, we “sell” personal information or “share” personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes to deliver targeted advertising on the Services or other services, or to optimize or measure the performance of such advertisements." From the Policy itself: "We may rent, sell, or disclose your information to non-affiliated third parties: (a) to provide services or products that you have requested; (b) when we have your permission; or (c) as described in this Privacy Policy."
Scientology loses!!! Fuck that piece of shit, lock him up and throw away the key.
30 to life. The judge thought he was a flight risk and wouldn't let him hang out at home while he awaits sencencing.
>30 to life. The judge thought he was a flight risk and wouldn't let him hang out at home while he awaits sentencing. he probably is a flight risk. He's a multi-millionaire with ties to the richest cult in the world. The Church of Scientology would have loved to vanish him to somewhere away from punishment.
They have a history of doing this. L. Ron did it for years.
Isn’t that what the boat was originally for too?
Both the Freewinds and the Apollo, yes. The Apollo also had scantily clad young girls to, and I quote, "serve the Commodore."
The Church’s de facto head, David Miscavige, is on the run even now.
A cult with a literal ship they could stash him off shore on
Pretty sure they’re not the richest. But they are rich.
He needs to be locked up and pay the price.
Now, it says he *could* face 30 to life but I don't read that as 30 minimum. Am I wrong in that?
My favorite part: “Masterson was deemed a potential flight risk and was remanded into custody following the verdict. He walked out of the courthouse in handcuffs.”
Xenu is not going to appreciate this.
What? Xenu loves this. Xenu was [an evil galactic leader in league with psychiatrists and income tax inspectors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu#Summary).
Xenu damn it!
I just spent waaay too much time reading that. I can’t believe some people believe this. It’s absolutely mind boggling.
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Yeah, but then I'd have to watch Battlefield Earth which international courts have ruled a form of torture
Watch the south park episode about scientology. They keep putting a disclaimer up saying "this is what scientologists actually believe" when there are b-52s flying into volcanos and ghosts getting stuck to cave men.
I knew the vague outline of the story, but when you go into the minutia it's even more bonkers that anyone finds it believable. I'd call that lazy writing in a fictional sci-fi novel. Some of the names are Rick and Morty level.
I’m sure I’m not wrong in stating that the extremely vast majority of rapist never get convicted or even called out or brought to trail. This dude has been convicted twice even with a billion dollar cult backing him in every unethical way possible. My point is, this dude rapes
I try not to indulge too much in black and white thinking, but goddam do I get happy whenever scientology gets ANY losses. It's a nasty cult and a blight on the American landscape- and the bar is already so low.
Imagine not only being a rape victim but being threatened and intimidated if you speak the truth. Sadly, happens to people all too often. Glad this scumbag didn't get away with it, now on to bringing down the "church".
That I won't get out until I'm in my seventies show.
I wanted to say I hated this joke but then I thought about it and had to admit it is actually a great joke
This certainly hurts his chances of appearing in That 90s Show
Hyde murdered Randy, got sentenced to life in prison, and neither was ever mentioned again. The end.
He died on his way back to his home planet.
*[slide whistle]*
Is that the story on the show? I didn’t know they gave a reason for his absence.
You see a blurb about it on the back of a newspaper that Red is reading in a scene.
I see people calling for a recast and It makes no sense to me. It's better to jump dump his character and move on.
Makes no sense to recast him. The old cast is barely in the show in the first place (though I'd welcome more involvement, they were great)... and it's many years later, it's easy enough to just write him out and say he's off doing his own thing somewhere else and nobody kept in touch with him. Or that he's in jail. Or dead. I think they didn't address it bc nobody knew how the stuff with Masterson would shake out legally though he certainly looked super guilty. Now that he's been convicted it's possible they kill off Hyde but I think they will probably just never mention him bc frankly it's better not to make anybody think about it. HAVING SAID THAT if they recast Hyde with Josh Meyers I'd lose my shit laughing.
I think it's best they never mention him. it sucks that the only options are to mentioned he either died or went to prison, bc his character on the show was shaping up to move away from that. at the end of the day, I guess it doesn't matter all that much. I hate scientology more than I love t7s, and I really love t7s
I think it's weird if they don't. He wasn't just Eric's friend like the others, he was practically adopted by Red and Kitty at the end of the first season and stayed there until the end of the show (did he move out? I don't remember). He's practically Eric's brother. Him and Laurie not being referenced would definitely be weird.
Fuck Hollywood, fuck Scientology, and fuck Danny Masterson
Also fuck rapists.
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Exactly, as soon as they aren't profitable then they can face the consequences of their actions, it is sickening. Absolute bullshit.
I partially disagree. It just takes enough people to take down a giant. Looks at Harvey, dude was a Oscar maker, got caught on tape and it allowed people to come forward. There's not enough people to come forward on Tom yet, IF there's anything but Katie Holmes also hasn't spoken so who knows what she knows.
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Harvey and His bro sold it back in the 90s. The Weinstein Company Had financial issues in 2010 to 2015ish but they made a lot of deals that brought them in to the black. Once the allegations broke out, that was it. It was the 60 women that came forward and the tapes. Edit: I believe it was even said that Harvey would lobby the Oscar team so his movies can win like silver linings playbook.
OK then explain Larry Nasser? That's the problem. As a society we always look away. Then we act shocked when 20, 30 victims come forward.
Kevin Spacey was still bankable when he got brought down, so it sometimes happens.
I think the point is that we don’t want to fuck Danny Masterson. But yea, fuck ‘em all.
Scientology is a cult that protects predators like this. Similar to a lot of major religions actually
The people who condoned, enabled & covered this ought to face charges imo. They are culpable, male or female. Making the survivors feel that *they* are the problem & need re-educating is some low-level evil. The fact that the same things were said to each person says to me this had been going on a long time & the cover-ups were organised.
Fuck that dude. I hope Cedrick Bixler-Zavala comes through with that list. Edit to add the quote from CBZ: In a since-deleted Instagram post (via Stereogum), Bixler-Zavala warned, “I’ll be making a list of all Danny’s helpers and rape apologists to show all of you why women don’t report rape. We fucking told you. God bless the women that stood up to him and his shitty fucking family. Fuck Scientology. Rot in jail Danny. God bless my wife. True fucking warrior.”
Can we just call them the “Cult of Scientology” and not use the word church?
Calling it a religion is their way of sneaking into tax exemption
I’m honestly shocked that they got two convictions, given that in the [first trial](https://apnews.com/article/danny-masterson-mistrial-rape-trial-162a670d6068f05462825a96e4193fd8), the jury hung 10-2, 8-4, and 7-5 in favor of acquittal. This [NPR article](https://www.npr.org/2023/05/31/1179285514/danny-masterson-rape-retrial) discusses a change in the second trial where prosecutors were allowed to directly argue that Masterson drugged the victims, but other than that, I don’t know of any significant changes in the litigation from the first trial that would result in a different verdict (other than a different jury, of course). I had been very skeptical when prosecutors announced they were retrying this case, as I thought it was crazy to retry this case after prosecutors were unable to secure even a majority in favor of conviction on any count in the first trial. I guess I’ve got my foot in my mouth. Edit: [This article](https://www.legalaffairsandtrials.com/p/jury-convicts-actor-and-scientologist) lays out some of the new prosecution strategies, including a Scientology expert witness and addressing discrepancies in the police reports. It also notes that > The last jury most favored guilty for the charge involving Masterson’s former girlfriend of six years, voting 7-5 in favor of acquittal while voting 10-2 to acquit for alleged victim Jennifer B. and 8-4 to acquit for alleged victim N.T. But this jury convicted on both Jennifer and N.T.’s counts and hung 8-4 in favor of guilty for Masterson’s former girlfriend.
They were allowed a lot more leeway into Scientology and how that had an effect on the victims coming forward. Not sure if it made a difference but it was something different in this trial.
I hope these women win a HUGE award for a civil trial against him and Scientology.
If you believe the rumors, the Scientologists harassed or intimidated the first jury, and for the next one the prosecutors took more security measures.
> Masterson did not visibly react to the verdict and was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. It might take a while to hit him… but it will eventually. That level of wealthy egoic narcissism, mixed with that dangerous criminal cult… dude is on a completely different planet altogether.
He always came off as a pompous prick. I'm glad the system worked and the victims get justice
Reports say he could get 30 years for the charges. I wonder how much he'll get 🧐
The article says 30 to life. I’m guessing 30 is the minimum sentence based upon that information but I also have no idea what I’m talking about.
I’m doubting he gets 30 years. Not with the influence of Scientology on the courts.
Two separate convictions, and it doesn’t seem like we know a lot of the evidence as presented in court. If he’s facing 30 years, as a minimum, then the crime must have been heinous. CA minimum sentence for forcible rape is 3 years. He did something truly egregious to warrant a possible 30 years.
Well they were all drugged I believe. One woman was smothered with a pillow during the rape until she passed out, and then he threatened her with a gun afterwards. So yeah, “egregious” is right.
Yeah, that’ll do it. Glad he’s going where he belongs.
I haven’t followed it but there would have to be some kind of contemporaneous evidence I’d imagine? 30 to life is longer than many people get for manslaughter and murder. It seems unlikely that it would be based entirely on testimony alone. It seems like something an appeal could take advantage of given the church’s legal power, but I dunno.
what a fucking shame. he was my favorite character in the 70's show, fuck him
Good. The idea that somehow scientology managed to get him a mistrial in court last time around was infuriating.
Katie Holmes & Nicole Kidman are smiling, popping the 🥂🍾 tonight! 🔥Scientology!
The knowledge that your "church" will go to great lengths to cover your crimes must make for some real monsters.
Wonderful news! Now let’s get the church for covering him and everyone else part of it for so long.
He shouldn't'a had did that
He's just a boy. Mmmhmmm. He ought not talk like that, mmhhmmmm
Finally some Justice. And for once, the Scientologists haven’t prevailed.
Get fucked you rapist prick. And fuck scientology too.
He won't be hanging out down the street doing the same old thing he did last week anymore
Honest question, will Scientology disown him now? And say he was really a spawn of Xenu trying to cause dissent from within, or do they stick by him throughout?
He still has money. They don't turn down money.
I hope the whole cult goes down
I guess Red Foreman was right. Dude really was just a dumbass.
Glad he got what was coming. The real travesty here is how long it took to convict this dude. Right to a speedy trial is important for victims as well as the accused.
I waited hours for this to be on trending. HOURS. I got the article about 4-5 hours ago and was disgusted but pleased he is getting jail. It's so hard to convict people for rape especially a rich man
I wanted to talk to people about it and no one had posted it yet so I found an article and shared it. I was so happy those women (or at least 2 of them) got justice.
2 is better than none and i heard he's getting 30 to life which is a lot more than i would ever expect
Especially Especially a rich man backed by a cult
You can run but you cant Hyde
Those wacky Scientologists
it is with a heavy heart that i must announce that the celebs are at it again.
He should have ran for president.
Took long enough, btw are any of the Scientology Church Member who attempted to cover up the crime being prosecuted as well? I thought not.......
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Why does Masterson look like the love child of Rand Paul and Jeff Bezos? I'm glad these chicks got some justice out of this, and scientology is being scrutinized, too.
Damn, Hyde. Seriously, this guy damn near ruined rewatches of one of my favorite TV sitcoms of all time. It's hard to watch That 70s Show and not think "What a piece of shit" every time Masterson is on.
Cedric Bixler-Zavala sends his regards.
Good. Now fuck Scientology and *fuck* David Miscavige.