Tonight, Leah Remini ends ‘Scientology and the Aftermath’ with a hard look at Danny Masterson

 
Tonight, we hope you join us and comment live as Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath airs its 2-hour series finale on the A&E Network.

We already expressed our own amazement at how much of an impact this show has had in the last three years, and we also gathered testimonies from some of the people who took part in it.

In tonight’s episode, many of those participants are in the audience you’ll see on the screen. But one thing we’re particularly interested in is going to be the reaction to the words spoken by two of the women who have accused Scientologist actor Danny Masterson of raping them, Chrissie Carnell Bixler and Bobette Riales.

We’ve been reporting on their allegations for a couple of years now, and we’ve told you about the harassment that Chrissie and her husband, rocker Cedric Bixler-Zavala, say they’ve been through since she came forward, including the mysterious and violent death of their family dog.

We’ll be interested in your thoughts on how Chrissie and Bobette come across in the show. Both of them allege that they were attacked by Masterson after each of them had been dating the actor, and we have already seen how this affects some reactions by people online.

So, given that situation, we wanted to make sure that readers have some familiarity with the allegations by the other two women who have come forward. Neither of them were dating Masterson when they say they were sexually assaulted by him, although both had known him for some time. They, along with Chrissie and Bobette, recently filed a lawsuit against Masterson and Scientology (and its leader David Miscavige) in Los Angeles Superior Court, saying they have been stalked and harassed since making their allegations. (Meanwhile, Masterson has not been charged with a crime by Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey, with the investigation nearly three years old.)

What’s new in that legal complaint is that the person we’ve been calling Victim B (Jane Doe #1 in the lawsuit), had a previous encounter with Masterson that was also non-consensual, according to the filing:

In September 2002, Jane Doe #1 was supposed to meet with a group that included [Brie] Shaffer [Masterson’s assistant and Michael Peña’s wife], Defendant Masterson, and others. After she had arrived, Jane Doe #1 learned that Shaffer was not going to attend. She did, however, encounter Masterson, who had already purchased her a drink and encouraged her to consume it. Immediately after Jane Doe #1 finished the first drink, Masterson ordered her a second. As she began to consume the second drink, Jane Doe #1 felt the effects of the alcohol. The effects Jane Doe #1 felt were greater than she expected after having consumed similar amounts of alcohol in the past. Jane Doe #1 was supposed to stay at Shaffer’s house but due to her absence and other factors, Shaffer arranged for Jane Doe #1 to stay in Masterson’s guest room. Jane Doe #1 was intoxicated and went to bed alone in the guest room. She awoke to Masterson having sex with her. Jane Doe #1 was intoxicated to the point that she could not have consented and in fact did not consent to this sexual contact. She was confused, disoriented, scared, and intoxicated to the point that she could not defend herself or resist. Eventually, Jane Doe #1 was able to push Masterson off of her. Jane Doe #1 did not want to have sex with Masterson and did not consent to any sexual encounter, but she blamed herself for what occurred for having consumed alcohol that night. Nonetheless, she tried to avoid being alone with Masterson.

It was the following April, in 2003, when Victim B again encountered Masterson, in the episode we’ve been telling you about for a couple of years. Again, he plied her with a drink that made her suspiciously intoxicated during a party at his house. She again found herself coming to with Masterson having sex with her. When she tried to fend him off, he became violent. And in the lawsuit, there’s a new and very troubling detail…

Jane Doe #1 attempted to make noise, but Masterson picked up a gun off of his nightstand, pointed it at her, and told her to be quiet. Defendant Masterson held Jane Doe #1 down and anally assaulted her. Masterson only stopped when he heard a voice at the bedroom door and went to investigate.

Incredibly, after she reported the incident to the Church of Scientology, Victim B was made to go through about $15,000 in auditing to find out what evil things she had done in past lives that would make her a victim in her current lifetime. And then, from our previous coverage…

What followed those interrogations was a bizarre scene set up by the church, when it insisted on putting Masterson and his accuser in the same room. Victim B was accompanied by three church officials, and then Masterson was brought in and told to listen carefully to her version of events because, he was told, he wasn’t properly “confronting” what he was accused of. Twice, Masterson interrupted Victim B’s account to make jokes, and the officials reacted angrily, cutting the meeting short. After that disastrous meeting, Victim B went to the LAPD on June 6, 2004, against the advice of the church….After the case was closed, in August 2004 a church attorney brought Victim B a hand-written letter of apology from the actor, and asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Masterson so she would never make her allegations public. Under pressure from the church, which again threatened to “declare” her unless she complied, she signed the agreement and was paid in the low six figures, our source told us. Since then, the LAPD has lost all files from its 2004 investigation, according to reporting by Yashar Ali. Meanwhile, the close relationship between the LAPD and Scientology continues.

Like Victim B, Victim C (“Jane Doe #2” in the lawsuit), was also a Scientologist who was known by Masterson and his friends. We interviewed Victim C two years ago, and she told us about how the actor suddenly became very interested in her and began texting her, asking her to come over to his house. When she agreed, he gave her a glass of wine to drink as soon as she arrived, telling her to drink it down and get into his jacuzzi, like it was a command. She too was suspiciously intoxicated after just that one drink. From our interview with Victim C:

“I don’t really remember being in the jacuzzi. But I can remember that we were in his shower, and I was saying ‘No, I don’t want to do this.’ He entered me, and I flipped out because I had been saying I didn’t want to do this.” Her next memory is being in his bed. “He flipped me over and just started pounding me. I was trying not to vomit. I said no like 50 times. But it was just sort of happening. I was saying no a lot, but it didn’t matter to him. I kept trying not to puke on his bed while he was doing it. It was pretty brutal. I said no 50 fucking times, but he wasn’t listening. And it was really horrible the way he was doing it.” At some point, she says, she said to him that if he wasn’t going to stop, she at least wanted him to put on a condom. “I can’t remember if he did it or not. He kept going and going and going, and I was a rag doll, basically. When I did try to turn over, he kept flipping me over.” He didn’t choke or slap her, as Victim B alleged. And she didn’t lose consciousness, as alleged by Victim A. But in other ways Victim C’s allegations are very similar to those being made by the other two women. After staying up late into the night, Victim C eventually made her way home. “It was so confusing to me what had happened. I misunderstood for so long what it was. Because he didn’t hit me, I didn’t realize it was rape for a long time.”

For that story two years ago, we also spoke with a veteran actress who told us that soon after the incident, Victim C told her about it, and with the same details. Victim B also has a fact witness, a person referred to as “D.P.” in the lawsuit, who was at the Masterson party the night of that encounter.

So, keep that in mind as you watch the show tonight. We expect both Chrissie Carnell Bixler and Bobette Riales to be effective and convincing. But it’s important to keep in mind that the other two accusers have their own stories to tell, and each has material witnesses.

See you tonight at 9 pm Eastern. We really look forward to one last live-blog of this truly remarkable television series.

 
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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] Scientology keeps pushing for ‘Ideal Orgs’ in places where it’s pure madness
[TWO years ago] DOX: The FBI’s 2008 investigation of Anonymous and its attacks on the Church of Scientology
[THREE years ago] Is the Enquirer’s ‘exclusive’ on Scientology’s ‘hooker orgy’ a David Miscavige backfire?
[FOUR years ago] So much for tabloid rumors: Tom Cruise visits Scientology’s ‘Ideal Org’ while he’s in Bogotá
[FIVE years ago] More trouble for Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon — this time in Florida
[SIX years ago] ANETTE IREN JOHANSEN: “I Auditioned To Be Tom Cruise’s Wife”
[SEVEN years ago] (2012’s) Top 25 People Crippling Scientology, Nos. 14-16
[EIGHT years ago] The Top 25 People Crippling Scientology, No. 16: Marc Headley

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 26, 2019 at 07:00

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