Danny Masterson is a Scientologist…interesting

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>'That '70s Show' actor Danny Masterson charged with raping 3 women, district attorney says

>https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/actor-danny-masterson-charged-raping-three-women

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2019/08/27/leah-remini-features-allegations-against-scientology-danny-masterson/2095079001/

archived

https://archive.fo/Zx6Et

Bixler said she decided to come forward after talking about the alleged attack with her husband.

"As soon as I started to justify Danny's actions, he (her husband) looked at me, stunned, and said, 'This is rape and it's not OK,'" she said. "It was the first time someone had agreed with me."

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After the taped interview aired, Bixler appeared in front of the studio audience to discuss the aftermath of reporting her alleged assault. She said the church's ethics officer assigned her a lengthy ethics programs to find out "what I did to deserve this." And it was compounded by Masterson's celebrity.

"My job as his girlfriend was to give myself to him whenever he wanted," Bixler said. "I cannot say 'no.' I lay there and take it."

"Because celebrity in Scientology in everything," Remini replied.

In an Aug. 13 letter quoted on "Scientology and the Aftermath," the Church of Scientology said, "Ms. Bixler never once told the Church about her accusations, and the Church never retaliated against her for making the claim."

"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," Masterson said in a statement shared with USA TODAY last week. "I will beat her in court — and look forward to it because the public will finally be able learn the truth and see how I’ve been railroaded by this woman."

Also in the studio audience for "Scientology and the Aftermath" was Bobette Riales, another plaintiff in the lawsuit. She said she came forward after seeing the response Bixler received for speaking out against Masterson.

"I knew a lot of things were wrong in our relationship," she said. "Never once did it occur to me that he was doing this to other girls."

In a letter dated Aug. 12 that was quoted on the show, an attorney for Masterson wrote, "It would be extremely reckless to rely on Ms. Riales as a source. Ms. Riales, who dated Mr. Masterson for a period of time in the early 2000s, only recently took to Twitter to accuse Mr. Masterson – for the first time ever – of 'repeatedly rap(ing)' her during their relationship."

The two other plainiffs in the lawsuit were not interviewed because of their desire to remain anonymous.

Besides the focus on Masterson, the finale also talked with other ex-Scientology members about allegations that the church has thwarted attempts to report sexual assault and violence to authorities.

Former Scientology members Leah Remini and Mike Rinder accept The Impact Award during the Critics' Choice Real TV Awards in June.

Former Scientology members Leah Remini and Mike Rinder accept The Impact Award during the Critics' Choice Real TV Awards in June. Alberto E. Rodriguez, Getty Images

The series concluded with Remini and Rinder addressing the studio audience, which consisted of former church members.

"Victims of Scientology are not a bunch of weirdo crackpots, but are real people who came into Scientology either because they were children to begin with or they wanted to help," Rinder said. "Scientologists are generally good people who want to help other people and that's how they get trapped."

After the airing of the series finale Monday, the Church of Scientology said in a statement to USA TODAY, "For three years, A&E profited from broadcasting Leah Remini’s lies, distortions and exhortations to hate. These resulted in threats, violence, and the brutal murder of a Scientologist in Australia in January 2019. Prior to committing his heinous act, the murderer spouted vicious anti-religious propaganda, incited by A&E and the Leah Remini series."

The incident the church refers to is the Jan.3 fatal stabbing of a church member by a 16-year-old. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the boy was on church property because his mother was going through a “purification ceremony.”

"When we first started out the Aftermath series, we wanted to give a platform to those who wanted to tell you what's happened to them, their pain," Remini said in the finale.

She ended with this: "Rest assured, Scientology, that this is not the end, this is just the beginning."