Danny Masterson Found Guilty of Rape in Retrial
A verdict has been returned in actor Danny Masterson's retrial on rape charges. The Los Angeles Times reports that a jury found Masterson guilty of sexually assaulting two women — named in court as "Jen B." and "N. Trout." The actor also faced a third sexual assault charge pertaining to an alleged victim named in court as "Chrissy B.," but the jury ended up deadlocked on that third charge.
The decision came after seven days of deliberations. Previous reports around the trial noted Masterson could face more than 40 years in prison if found guilty on all three charges. It is unclear how only being found guilty on two of the charges will affect the That '70s Show actor's sentence. It's also unclear if prosecutors will push for another trial on the Chrissy B. charge due to the hung jury. Masterson maintained his innocence throughout the investigation and proceedings.
Masterson is best known for playing high school slacker Steven Hyde on That '70s Show for the show's eight-season run on Fox. Years later, he and Ashton Kutcher, another star of That '70s Show, re-teamed for The Ranch, on Netflix. However, in 2017, multiple women filed sexual assault reports against Masterson, prompting Netflix to fire him. Those allegations became charges on three counts of forcible rape relating to incidents involving three women from 2001 to 2003.
The first sexual assault trial against Masterson came to a close in November 2022, with the jury hung on all charges. Per a report from Variety, Judge Charlaine Olmedo advised the parties involved that the jurors were not able to reach a unanimous verdict after nearly two weeks of deliberation. She read a note from the jurors that stated: "We are not even close to coming to a unanimous decision on any count, and are convinced this will not change."
Per Variety, the jurors advised Judge Olmedo that "they were divided on each charge. The split was two for guilty and 10 for not guilty on Count 1; four for guilty and eight for not guilty on Count 2; and five for guilty and seven for not guilty on Count 3." The actor was later given a new trial date, according to Deadline. The outlet reported that Judge Olmedo had previously set March 29 as the date that jury selection would begin. Additionally, the outlet also noted that L.A. County Deputy District Attorneys Mueller and Ariel Anson confirmed they would prosecute the new trial.
During the retrial, actress Leah Remini spoke out about Masterson and blasted what she believed to be "disgusting antics" used by his lawyers. Over on Substack, Remini wrote a lengthy editorial about the case, titled "Scientology's Disgusting Antics In Court." In it, she heavily criticized Masterson's legal team, as well as the Church of Scientology, which she used to be a member of, but became its most vocal opponent in the years since she left.
"Yesterday, I attended the rape trial of celebrity Scientologist Danny Masterson," Remini began her essay. "As always, I attended to support the brave women who were raped by Danny and then later harassed, stalked, and attacked by Scientology." She then went on to explain, "Last week, Danny's Scientology-controlled lawyers tried to get me thrown out of court based on the false premise that they were going to call me to testify later on. Thankfully, the Judge rejected their attempt to have me booted."