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In June of 2020, actor Danny Masterson was charged with three counts of rape, having been accused of sexually assaulting three women between 2001-2003. The That ‘70s Show star, who has pleaded not guilty—and is currently free on $3.3 million bail—faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted. The case was initially set to go to trial on August 29, but Masterson’s team won a six-week delay to October 11.
Complicating matters is Masterson’s status as a prominent member of the Church of Scientology. In 2019, four women, three of whom are former Scientologists, filed a lawsuit against Masterson and the Church of Scientology, claiming that they fell victim to a cycle of harassment and intimidation by the Church in an apparent effort to keep their stories of sexual assault under wraps. They’re suing them for stalking, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Church of Scientology, meanwhile, has lost at its attempt at submitting the accusers to religious arbitration within the Church of Scientology, with a California Appeals Court ruling that the women had a First Amendment right to leave the religion and were therefore not bound to Scientology’s stringent lifelong contracts. The Church of Scientology has since petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider.
One of Masterson’s rape accusers, Jane Doe 1, has grown frustrated by what she perceives as the Masterson team’s attempts at delaying the criminal trial People v. Masterson. Attorney Nina L. Hawkinson, who is representing Jane Doe 1, emailed a statement on Thursday night to The Daily Beast regarding attorney Shawn Holley’s recent request for a trial continuance in People v. Masterson on account of their being busy representing Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher Trevor Bauer in his arbitration appeal of his two-year suspension by Major League Baseball after being accused of assault by several women.