Photo: YouTube
She is one of four women accusing the actor of sexual assault.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Jun 17, 2020
After decades of allegations of sexual assault, actor Danny Masterson has been arrested on charges stemming from multiple incidents in 2001 and 2003. According to new reports, Masterson was arrested on June 17, 2020 on charges of raping three different women. The district attorney's office noted that two other women had made similar accusations but the office declined to press charges due to lack of evidence in one case and the statute of limitations in the other. Masterson was released on $3.3 million in bail the same day as his arrest.
If convicted the That 70s Show star could serve 45 years to life in state prison.
Allegations of Masterson raping women have been circulating for years. The series finale of Leah Remini's A&E show Scientology: The Aftermath contained shocking revelations of sexual abuse covered up by the church. The episode features a number of appalling stories of the way Scientology covers up sex crimes, including allegations from multiple women that actor and Scientologist Danny Masterson repeatedly raped them.
Actress Chrissie Carnell Bixler told Remini her personal story of being sexually assaulted by Masterson. She claimed he raped her during their relationship in the late 1990s but the church discouraged her from pressing charges. When she did finally go to the police, she says the church harassed her and her family and that they influenced the LAPD to drop the investigation.
Who is Chrissie Carnell Bixler, who accused Danny Masterson of rape?
1. Accusations of Danny Masterson's sexual assault are long-standing.
The accusations of assault have been outstanding for at least two years. In 2017, journalist Tony Ortega published an article about three sets of rape allegations against Masterson on his website The Underground Bunker. (The article contains graphic descriptions of assaults Masteron is alleged to have committed and can be hard to read.) The LAPD was able to confirm the existence of the investigation in March 2017, saying "The Los Angeles Police Department Robbery Homicide Division, Sexual Assault Section, is conducting an investigation involving the actor Danny Masterson. Three women have come forward and disclosed that they were sexually assaulted by Masterson during the early 2000s.” But by November of 2017, the investigation had stalled. Unnamed sources with the LAPD and district attorney's office said that the evidence against Masterson was compelling and they could not understand why charges weren't pursued.
2. Bixler spoke to Leah Remini, who was once a Scientologist, for her show.
Around the time the reports from The Underground Bunker were being picked up, one of the accusers, Bixler, was speaking with actress Leah Remini for her show Scientology: The Aftermath. Bixler, who was a model and actress and is now married to musician Cedric Bixler-Zavala, was a member of the Church of Scientology. She had also been in a multi-year relationship with Masterson in the late 90s and for the first few years of his series That 70s Show. Bixler wanted to discuss her situation with Remini because Remini had been working on exposing wrong-doings by the Church of Scientology on her A&E series and Bixler had become convinced that the investigation against Masteron had stalled due to interference by the church. At the time, Bixler-Zavala claimed that after his wife pressed charges, they immediately started facing harassment from the Church of Scientology, including the church tapping their computers and following them.
Even though Bixler and Remini made the episode about Masterson in 2017 as all the allegations were coming to the public eye, they made the decision not to air the show at that time. The LAPD was still investigating the case and Remini was concerned that the show would be detrimental to law enforcement actions. While the LAPD never did press charges against Masterson, Bixler and the other the women involved in the investigation have decided to seek justice through civil means: two weeks ago they filed suit against Masterson, the Church of Scientology and the head of the church David Miscavige for stalking, physical invasion of privacy and a conspiracy to obstruct justice. The episode of the show finally aired shortly after the filing.
4. Bixler claims Masterson raped her while was she blacked out.
In the episode of Remini's show about Masterson, Bixler recounted a time she and Masterson, who was her boyfriend at the time, went out to dinner. She blacked out after they ate and awoke the next morning with no memories of the prior evening. She told Remini, "Last thing I remember is getting up from the restaurant to go home. Complete blackout. The next day when I woke up the back of my head hurt, and I thought I’d fallen. I thought I was poisoned. I didn’t know where I was. He was downstairs sitting at his desk... I went downstairs and asked what happened. He just kind of chuckled. I said, ‘I’m in a lot of pain.’ I was ripped. I was injured. He started laughing. He said “Oh, I had sex with you last night.” I said, ‘Was I unconscious?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’” Bixler went on to recount how she told an ethics officer within the church who said that the incident shouldn't be characterized as rape since she and Masteron were in a relationship. The same officer threatened to cut her off from the church completely if she reported the assault to law enforcement, a threat that was standard practice within the church. At the time, Bixler was out of contact with her family because the church told her to cut them out of her life. She had stopped working when Masterson got successful and the church was the only source of emotional support she had. "I was completely disconnected,” she told Remini.
5. Masterson has refuted the claims.
For his part, Masterson is aggressively refuting the claims that he ever assaulted the women in his past. He has taken to social media to not only defend himself but to threaten Bixler with a countersuit. In a statement, 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. I will beat her in court — and look forward to it because the public will finally be able to learn the truth and see how I’ve been railroaded by this woman. And once her lawsuit is thrown out, I intend to sue her and the others who jumped on the bandwagon for the damage they caused me and my family."
6. The Church of Scientology denies all allegations.
The Church of Scientology, unsurprisingly, denies that it has had any part in trying to silence Masterson's accusers. In a statement, the church said, “The Church adamantly denies that it ever ignores any allegations of criminal behavior, especially at the expense of alleged victims. What is being stated is utterly untrue. This has nothing to do with religion. This story is being manipulated to push a bigoted agenda. The Church follows all laws and cooperates with law enforcement. Any statement or implication to the contrary is false.” However, as Remini and her partner, Mike Rinder have documented, the church has used the kinds of tactics Masterson's accusers describe, including stalking, installing spy cameras, and defaming individuals who leave or criticize the church.
Bixler's suit against the church, Masterson, and Miscavige is still pending. No word yet on when it will come to trial.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.