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Here’s Scientology actor Danny Masterson’s legal response to his rape accusers

[Danny Masterson in 2003]

Four women have sued Danny Masterson, the Church of Scientology, and its leader David Miscavige, alleging that since those women came forward to the LAPD with rape allegations against Masterson in 2016, they have been subjected to a harassment campaign in an attempt to silence them.

Masterson has now filed his “demurrer,” a legal response that is his attempt to kill the lawsuit and get attorneys fees. In it, he claims that the women suing him are bitter “ex-girlfriends,” but actually only two of the four dated him. The other two didn’t, and also those two aren’t named in the lawsuit but are listed as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2. In his response, Masterson says he thinks they should be named publicly.

We just got this document, and we’ll be pulling out quotes that we think are important. But we’re also providing the entire document for you to go through. Tell us what stands out for you in this legal fight, that is getting more interesting every day.

Right from the start, Masterson is mischaracterizing the lawsuit…

This lawsuit is nothing more than a publicity stunt orchestrated by Danny Masterson’s ex-girlfriends, some of whom seek to proceed anonymously while very publicly accusing Mr. Masterson and other named defendants of wrongdoing. In particular, the Jane Doe plaintiffs want to use fake names in this lawsuit to avoid public scrutiny of their claims and prevent others from questioning their allegations and/or speaking out against them personally.

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If you’ve followed our coverage of the women who have come forward to the LAPD, the women we’ve referred to as Victim B and Victim C (Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 in the lawsuit) were not girlfriends of Danny Masterson by any definition of that word. Victim B went to a party at his house. Victim C went to his house to have a drink, their first private encounter.

And using the names “Jane Doe” are not “fake names” but standard practice in sexual assault claims. (The only reason Chrissie Carnell Bixler and Bobette Riales both came forward with their actual names, they told us, was that they had already been identified on social media and felt it was useless to try to put that genie back in the bottle. In the case of Chrissie, she was named the day we first broke the news of the LAPD investigation by Masterson’s publicist Jenni Weinman in a blast to the media. Most news organizations refused to publicize the name, but some did.)

Mr. Masterson and the other defendants have a right to confront their accusers, and if these secret plaintiffs want to use the public courts to try to get money from Mr. Masterson and the other defendants, they need to play by the rules and sue in their real names.

Masterson knows quite well who the two unnamed accusers are, and this is just game playing.

Only after their wild and previously rejected allegations of sexual assault against Mr. Masterson rightfully fell on deaf ears, several of Mr. Masterson’s ex-girlfriends — some from nearly twenty ago — participated in an anti-Scientology television series.

Masterson knows that the LAPD and Los Angeles District Attorney’s office investigation is ongoing, and no allegations have been “rejected” or “fell on deaf ears.”

In what can only be characterized as paranoid delusions, Mr. Masterson’s ex-girlfriends and one of their jealous husbands banded together to concoct these preposterous and bigoted allegations aimed largely against the Church of Scientology. They included Mr. Masterson as a defendant in this discriminatory lawsuit to insure that the media would cover it.

Over the years, Masterson has played at being a club DJ and musician. The “jealous husband” he’s referring to is an actual musician, successful rock singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, who joined the lawsuit because he and Chrissie Carnell Bixler say they’ve been targeted in the harassment campaign.

Plaintiffs Chrissie Carnell Bixler, her husband Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Marie Bobette Riales, and two of Mr. Masterson’s ex-girlfriends, who now seek to hide behind a cloak of anonymity, have very publicly accused Mr. Masterson of unthinkable crimes despite that fact that their allegations were thoroughly investigated and rejected years ago.

Again Masterson makes reference to an open law enforcement investigation and says it was “rejected” years ago.

Their stories, however, have morphed into fairytales demonstrating their religious intolerance and prejudice. Recognizing that their original claims arising out of their prior, consensual relationships with Mr. Masterson are not only time-barred under the law but also entirely meritless, they turned this case into one about alleged stalking and harassment. Giving these delusional plaintiffs the benefit of the doubt, they have seemingly convinced themselves that every day inconveniences that are commonplace in all large cities, such as having their trashcans go missing, or finding their car doors unlocked, are part of a large conspiracy against them by the Church of Scientology at the direction of one of their parishioners. Lawsuits do not get much more far-fetched, or anti-religious than this one.

It’s interesting to see Masterson throw in with his “religion” here with the angle on “religious intolerance.”

Other than Plaintiffs’ own neurotic and self-serving contentions that these things supposedly happened to them, they allege no facts in their lawsuit that point to Mr. Masterson being responsible for them. Rather, Plaintiffs’ Complaint is a desperate attempt to dredge-up previously disproven and rejected claims against Mr. Masterson for sexual assault. Although the lawsuit is filled with patently false allegations related to Mr. Masterson’s alleged “crimes,” it fails mention that the female Plaintiffs all had long-standing relationships with Mr. Masterson. In some cases, those relationships lasted for years after these women now claim Mr. Masterson abused them. Indeed, Ms. Bixler, for one, sent Mr. Masterson love letters begging him to get back together with her after he ended their relationship due to her own instability and substance abuse issues. Plaintiffs have unnecessarily dragged Mr. Masterson into this litigation to garner media interest in their suit—a shameless ploy for attention
which is amplified by the fact that Plaintiffs do not allege that Mr. Masterson personally committed — or instructed others to commit — any of the allegedly wrongful conduct outlined in the Complaint.

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Again, our understanding is that neither Victim B or Victim C dated Masterson or had long-standing intimate relationships with him.

But the Complaint’s lack of supporting facts and law is not even its biggest defect. The lawsuit is a mishmash of bigotry and allegations asserted by various individuals who have very little in common with one another and do not belong in the same case together. The individual claims are premised on entirely distinct and separate acts — allegedly occurring at different times and in different locations. Because the claims do not arise from the same transaction or series of events, they cannot be pleaded jointly. As a result of this improper joinder, the Complaint cannot be cured by amendment and must be dismissed with prejudice.

An observation from an attorney who went over the document for us: “I might be wrong about this point, but judges do not like reading name-calling in legal documents. Things such as ‘paranoid delusions,’ ‘delusional plaintiffs.’ I decide that a person is a jerk if this type of language is used instead of actual facts.”

 
Here’s the document in its entirety…

 

Bixler v. Scientology: Mast… by Tony Ortega on Scribd

 
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Source Code

“If I walked into an org at any given instant, I would look the place over, I would probably move all the executives out of the service space. And that’s usually my first action in an org. I’m not kidding you. I move all the executives out of the service space, and that’s my first day. And work with their creditor set up so that there won’t be foreclosed on the second day. And by that time I have looked over enough of the situation, and I get a big idea as to what we can offer right now, and we offer it very promptly on any open communication line that is. And you have a special project number one, which you will be given, which is, that’s a special project. That doesn’t include with the FEBC pack; it’s with your pack, but it’s the big idea that you can do right now. And it’s already under a bit of flight, this particular one, and we haven’t got the full results on this yet. But apparently it’s producing people, and they walk in and they actually do start moving through the org lines. So you’ve got a special dissem project number one, which is a good idea.” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 3, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“The 1.1 handling in Science of Survival is a handling mainly for people on that tone band. That it also includes communists and sexually perverted people is coincidental. And I don’t think LRH would have been worried that a suppressive puppet would expose him (LRH) in a bad light just because he said that 1.1s should be banned from public office.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Scientology/Dianetics was originally intended to END with going Clear. And then LRH realized the short con of that was going to run dry, so he came up with the LONG CON of the OT levels. It’s that simple.”

 
——————–

Start making your plans…

 
Head over to the convention website and meet us in St. Louis!

 
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

[Alanna Masterson, Terry Jastrow, and Marisol Nichols]

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?

 
——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] After critical ‘Aftermath’ episodes, Clearwater police chief denies favoring Scientology
[TWO years ago] What L. Ron Hubbard said about religion — before Scientology became a ‘church’
[THREE years ago] Leah Remini books the Bill Maher show, gets swung at by Giovanni Ribisi
[FOUR years ago] Ray Jeffrey fends off Scientology’s attempt to get him in hot water with the California Bar
[FIVE years ago] When Richard Nixon ordered the Secret Service to investigate Scientology
[SIX years ago] Monique Rathbun tries to slap down Scientology’s ‘anti-SLAPP’ motion in court today
[SEVEN years ago] Super Sunday Funnies: Live-Blogging Scientology’s Super Bowl Ad!
[EIGHT years ago] Debbie Cook’s Motion Denied: Scientology’s Restraining Order Remains in Place Until Thursday Hearing

 
——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 1,837 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,341 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,861 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 881 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 772 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,079 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,947 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,721 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,495 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,841 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,407 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,326 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,494 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,075 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,336 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,374 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,087 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,612 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,139 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,702 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,842 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,162 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,017 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,137 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,492 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,795 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,901 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,303 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,175 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,758 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,253 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,507 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,616 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on February 3, 2020 at 22:40

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Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2018 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2018), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 14 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

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