The second big lawsuit from a powerful legal team assembled to take on the Church of Scientology has been filed, following up on the “Jane Doe” lawsuit in June that named the church and its leader David Miscavige defendants.
This time, the church and Miscavige are joined by Scientologist actor Danny Masterson, who are all being sued by four women who have accused the That ’70s Show actor of violently raping them, and whose allegations have been the subject of a Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles District Attorney investigation for more than two years.
LA District Attorney Jackie Lacey has still not announced whether she’s going to charge Masterson criminally, but that isn’t stopping his accusers from filing a civil lawsuit against him and the church in the meantime.
Four women came forward to make allegations against Masterson, and the lawsuit’s plaintiffs include two of those accusers who have already identified themselves publicly, Chrissie Carnell Bixler and Bobette Riales, as well as the two who remain unidentified, as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2. Joining them as a plaintiff is Chrissie’s rock singer husband, Cedric Bixler Zavala. The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs have been subjected to stalking, slander, libel, and a conspiracy of harassment since the women came forward with their allegations two years ago.
As in the case of the Jane Doe lawsuit, the new complaint was filed by a legal dream team of former criminal prosecutors (including a prosecutor who put Bill Cosby in prison) and a constitutional scholar, Marci Hamilton.
Also, we noticed that Leah Remini’s sister Nicole announced on Facebook earlier today that Leah will be co-hosting the NBC Today show tomorrow and Friday. We suspect that Leah will bring up this lawsuit and also make an announcement about her A&E series, ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ which concluded its third season in February.
Coincidentally, final Emmy voting for this year’s awards begins tomorrow morning and continues for two weeks. We can only hope that Leah’s appearance reminds voters what an amazing job she has done with ‘Aftermath,’ which took home an Emmy for its first season and has been nominated this year for another award.
As soon as we have a copy of the complaint to share with you, we’ll add it to this story. According to the website The Blast, it says that “When those women came forward to report Masterson’s crimes, the Defendants conspired to and systematically stalked, harassed, invaded their and their family’s privacy, and intentionally caused them emotional distress and silence and intimidate them.”
The Church of Scientology’s policies that prevent members from reporting crimes is also cited:
“Whether discovered during auditing or otherwise, Defendants forbid members from contacting police to report a crime committed by any member,” they claim. “The Institutional Defendants instruct their members and agents that reporting such instances to law enforcement is considered a ‘high crime’ and subjects the member to punishment.”
One of the women, Chrissie Bixler, dated Masterson for several years and joined Scientology “per his orders.” She claims Masterson regularly forced her to have sex with him and “became violent” when she refused.
She claims on one occasion, after refusing to have sex with Masterson, he dragged her “naked across their bedroom floor while berating her appearance. He then threw her, still naked, into the hall and locked the bedroom door.”
We first broke the news of the LAPD investigation in March 2017, and we’ll add more to bring you up to speed on the allegations by the women.
UPDATE: Masterson released a statement through his attorney… “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 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.”
It’s pretty obvious he’s referring to Chrissie Bixler, who dated Masterson for several years before, she alleges, he raped her while she was unconscious. He also dated Riales. But the other two women were not his girlfriends. Also, the lawsuit is about the ensuing stalking and slander the women (and Cedric) claim that they have been subjected to since reporting to the police two years ago.
You might remember the story we wrote last year about how Cedric and Chrissie’s dog suddenly died after, a vet found, it had been kicked in the throat. For the last two years, the couple has experienced a bewildering series of attacks on their phones and home security, and the other victims tell us the same, which is spelled out in the lawsuit. We’re looking forward to see how that gets litigated by this special legal team.
UPDATE: The Church of Scientology has put out a characteristically snarky response: “From everything we have read in the press, this baseless lawsuit will go nowhere because the claims are ludicrous and a sham. It’s a dishonest and hallucinatory publicity stunt. Leah Remini is taking advantage of these people as pawns in her moneymaking scam.”
But as Yashar Ali points out, these women and their allegations have nothing to do with Leah. Victim B first reported her allegations to the LAPD in 2004. In 2016, she and Chrissie Bixler first went to authorities before they spoke to Remini, who then did, yes, throw her support behind them. But the allegations in this lawsuit have nothing to do with the ‘Aftermath’ star.
OUR PREVIOUS DANNY MASTERSON COVERAGE
Mar 3, 2017 LAPD probing Scientology and Danny Masterson for multiple rapes, cover-up
Mar 8, 2017 Danny Masterson: Victim C gets support from a veteran actress, but will LAPD answer the call?
Mar 11, 2017 Source: Scientology made Danny Masterson’s Victim B search past lives to explain being raped
May 9, 2017 Danny Masterson hires Michael Jackson criminal defense attorney Tom Mesereau in rape probe
Nov 1, 2017 Hey, Netflix, why does Scientology actor Danny Masterson still have a job?
Nov 2, 2017 Read the threatening letter Danny Masterson’s attorney Marty Singer sent a victim’s husband
Nov 26, 2017 EXCLUSIVE: Scientology interrogated Danny Masterson and accuser, didn’t notify LAPD
Feb 14, 2018 Prosecutors prepare charges carrying life sentence for Danny Masterson
Apr 27, 2018 Strange days for a woman accusing Danny Masterson of rape — and for her rocker husband
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!
We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.
Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!
Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!
Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in our weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Whale watching: Your 2018 mid-year guide to who’s keeping Scientology alive
[TWO years ago] Fair Play: Before Leah Remini takes another whack, here’s a word from Scientology itself
[THREE years ago] Got a Purple Heart? Scientology wants to exploit you
[FOUR years ago] Florida rejects complaint over Scientology ‘disconnection,’ but Brian Sheen unbowed
[FIVE years ago] Kate Bornstein kicks cancer’s ass
[SIX years ago] Episcopal Church Objects to Being Included in Supreme Court Brief Supporting Scientology
[SEVEN years ago] Narconon Not Scientology? Then Why Is Its Leader in the Church’s Concentration Camp?
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,538 days.
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Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,237 days.
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Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,324 days.
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Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,166 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,205 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,917 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,443 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,532 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,672 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,992 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,848 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,967 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,322 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,625 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,731 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,133 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,005 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,588 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,083 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,337 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,446 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 14, 2019 at 19:10
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