Leah Remini on Thursday called Danny Masterson a “dangerous rapist” after the actor was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women.
The Emmy-winning actress, 53, gave a opinion He took to social media Thursday to criticize the 47-year-old actor, saying the Church of Scientology was complicit in covering up his crimes.
“I’m relieved that this dangerous rapist is off the streets and unable to violently assault and rape women with the help of Scientology, a multi-billion dollar criminal organization with tax-exempt status,” the New York native said in a widely publicized outlet from the church in 2013.
The King of Queens actress said she was present Thursday with two of the women Masterson convicted of sexual assault at the Los Angeles Superior Court, calling it “a surreal experience.”
She said, “Danny Masterson has evaded responsibility for his crimes for over two decades.” that he was supported by the church; and that Thursday’s condemnation was an indictment of the church and its leadership.
The Latest: Leah Remini, 53, on Thursday called 47-year-old Danny Masterson a “dangerous rapist” after the actor was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women
Remini said the church “managed to cover up Danny’s crimes” and “participated in a conspiracy to cover up crimes of sexual violence” with its vast resources and personnel in areas such as media, law and intelligence procurement.
Remini said it was “in awe” of the rape survivors who “read their victim impact statements aloud in court” before Masterson and “some of the Scientologists who have terrorized them for over two decades.”
“These women not only endured the hell of rape, whose rapes were covered up by the organization that promised to protect them, but they have also been subjected to reckless and criminal harassment by Scientology and its agents since they turned themselves in to law enforcement. “’
Remini, who has spoken out strongly against the Church in the decade since her separation from the institution, explained what she believes is the dynamic at play in the Church in sensitive situations as such.
“I will always remind the public that in Scientology you are committing a serious crime if you report another Scientologist to law enforcement,” Remini said. “The consequences of committing such a crime are devastating: you will lose everything you have ever known, from your family to your friends to your job.”
Remini said that “the women who survived Danny’s robbery fought tirelessly for justice” and that “their tenacity, strength and courage have given all victims of Scientology hope that justice is possible…for this we will forever.” to be thankful.” ‘
Remini – who was accused by Masterson in 2021 of trying to influence the case against him before his previous trial.
Finally, she thanked Los Angeles Police Department investigators, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo for their “fair and impartial approach to this case and proceeding.”
Remini was pictured with Masterson at a charity event in LA in March 2009
Remini appeared next to Masterson in a photo taken at a fundraiser in Las Vegas in November 2007
The church told in a statement Thursday that “the prosecution’s inclusion of religion in this trial constitutes an unprecedented violation of the First Amendment and impairs the due process rights of every American.”
“The Church has no policy prohibiting or preventing members from reporting criminal conduct by anyone – Scientologist or not – to law enforcement authorities.”
“On the contrary, church policy explicitly requires that Scientologists abide by all laws of the land.” Any claims to the contrary are completely FALSE.
The church’s statement concluded: “There is not a shred of evidence to support the scandalous allegations that the church harassed the accusers.” “Every single instance of alleged church harassment is FALSE and has been debunked.”
Remini filed a lawsuit against church and Scientology leader David Miscavige last month, alleging “harassment, surveillance and defamation.”
Remini had already discussed her departure from the institution in her 2015 book “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology.”
Remini also hosted and produced the Emmy-winning A&E documentary Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, which ran for three seasons from 2016 to 2019.
At Thursday’s hearing, Judge Olmedo, who sentenced Masterson to 15 years in prison for each rape count, with the sentences running consecutively, told the actor that although he had “steadfastly maintained his innocence,” he was “not the victim here.” .
“Your actions 20 years ago were criminal and that’s why you are here today.”
The That ’70s Show alum was spotted heading to court in LA last fall
Remini said the church “managed to cover up Danny’s crimes” and “engaged in a conspiracy to cover up crimes of sexual violence” with its vast resources and personnel in areas such as media, law and intelligence gathering. Pictured in 2019
At the sentencing, Jane Doe No. 1 called Masterson a “true coward and heartless monster,” adding that to this day she suffers from an extreme fear of the dark and often wakes up crying.
Sometimes, she said, she hides in a closet or screams out the window: “I’m not feeling well… I think life is an appropriate sentence.”
The woman continued to tell the room that she was born into a family of Scientologists, and when she reported the rape to the church, a high-ranking official “made it clear that Danny was untouchable.”
“I didn’t choose to be born into Scientology — and I didn’t choose to be raped by Danny Masterson,” the mother of three said, fighting back tears. “Scientology has tried to silence us…to intimidate us.”
“I wish I had reported him to the police sooner,” she said, adding that at no point did Masterson show “an ounce of remorse for the pain I suffered.”
She continued: “The first few years after the rape were pretty dark. “I pretty much lost everything. “I had to start my life over at the age of 29,” she said.
Before his sentencing, Masterson’s attorney, Shawn Holley, urged the judge to impose multiple 15-year sentences rather than consecutive ones, saying it would be “fair and just.”
Masterson’s victims tearfully told the courtroom how he ruined their lives.
“You are pathetic, disturbed and extremely violent and the world is a safer place when you are in prison,” Jane Doe No. 2 said, looking directly at the actor, dressed in a gray suit and gray open-neck shirt.
“You are a true coward and a heartless monster,” Jane Doe #1 added. “I think life is an appropriate sentence.”
Prosecutor Reinhold Müller speaks in front of the courthouse after the verdict was announced
While Masterton’s wife, Bijou Philips, watched earlier, trying to hide her feelings with large dark glasses, Jane Doe No. 2 stared at Masterson and told him, “I don’t have to carry your shame around with me anymore.” You have to carry it. This means you have to sit in a cell.
“I’m still coming to terms with what you did to me… in that brutal way.” She said the emotional and mental damage she suffered from the rape was “a lifetime of reparation,” adding adding that Masterson was “empowered and protected” by Scientology because of his fame in the Church.
And she said she was “angry” when she learned there were other rape victims. After years of remaining silent at the church’s urging, she finally decided to report Masterson to the police.
“I decided to report him with the full understanding that my life would be destroyed again (by violating the Do Not Tell Doctrine) of Scientology, which has terrorized me ever since.”
Jane Doe #2 addressed Masterson directly again and told him, “When you raped me, you took away my ability to have stability in my life for decades.” After you raped me, I stopped life.’
She said her “promising” acting career “collapsed” after the “heinous attack took my life.”
“I know you’re proud of hurting women.” You treated me like I was less than trash. Your emptiness and cowardice will be your true legacy.
“You are pathetic, disturbed and extremely violent and the world is safer with you in prison.” I wouldn’t wish rape on my worst enemy. You thought the law didn’t apply to you. You acted smug and defiant.’
She concluded her “victim impact statement” by saying, “I forgive you, although she has suffered two decades of trauma since Masterson brutally raped her.”
A prison bus takes Danny Masterson back to prison after his sentencing on Thursday
Prosecutor and Assistant District Attorney Reinhold Mueller asked the judge to impose a sentence of 30 years to life, saying Holley’s plea for just 15 years was “not fair and just.”
Mueller added: “After the first rape, Masterson had time to think about what he had done; Nevertheless, he raped again.’
Masterson had two trials. His first trial, six months earlier, ended in a mistrial after a different jury was hopelessly deadlocked on all three rape charges.
Masterson was free on $3.3 million bail in both trials. However, that freedom ended with his double conviction on May 31 and he has been incarcerated at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles ever since.
Referring to the “devastation” suffered by victims of violent rape, the prosecutor added: “This is something they carry with them forever.” This is a long-lasting punishment for them. These lives will never be the same.’
He scoffed at Holley’s portrayal of Masterson as a “model husband and father.”
“This does not rule out the possibility that the defendant is a violent serial rapist,” he added.
In addition to imposing a sentence of 30 years to life, Judge Olmedo ordered Masterson To as a sex offender after serving his sentence.
In her request for leniency, Masterson’s attorney, Shawn Holley, asked the judge to reduce his sentence, arguing that the actor had no prior criminal record before the rapes and had led “a productive and positive life on television.”
Holley said she received 50 letters from various people praising Masterson for “selfless acts, opening his home, his wallet and his heart to people in need.”
She added that he had been an “exemplary father, husband, son, friend and employee” and argued that a 30-year life sentence meant that “Mr. Masterson (now 47) would likely die in prison.”
Scientology was the focus of both criminal trials. All three women testified that the reason it took them so long to report him to the police was their fear of retaliation from the Church of Scientology
Her co-counsel on the defense team, Philip Cohen, told the court that “a life sentence of 15 years is not the same as 15 years” and pointed out that at the end of the 15 years, the parole board would decide that Masterson was not rehabilitated or If he was not a model prisoner, his sentence could be extended by additional years, up to life imprisonment.
On Thursday, in shackles, he made the short journey from prison to Courtroom 105 on the ninth floor of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, where he faced his victims.
A close friend told that Ms Bijou “felt like she was grieving a death” as she awaited her husband’s sentencing.
“Currently Bijou is circling the drain, full of emotion and no emotion at all,” they said. “She’s a shell of who she was.” She’s really trying to be strong for her daughter as she tries to figure out what life will be like for her.
“It can only be compared to a divorce or death because she couldn’t be with Danny like she used to be.”
The 60-year-old actor Billy Baldwin, who is married to Bijou’s actress half-sister Chynna Phillips (55), was also often in court during the trials.
Scientology was at the center of both trials, as all three women testified that the reason it took them so long to report him to the police was their fear of retaliation from the Church of Scientology.
His accusers – whom identifies only as Jane Does 1 through 3 – are all former Scientologists and are also suing the actor and the Church of Scientology in civil court, saying they have been harassed and intimidated since reporting them to police. A status hearing on this civil case is scheduled for September 26.
His victims said that Church of Scientology officials warned them not to use the word “rape,” that handing over another Scientologist to law enforcement was considered a “serious crime,” and that if they violated that doctrine, they would be considered ” could be classified as a “suppressive person”. Expelled from the church and left alone, cut off from family and friends.
Danny Masterson and his wife Bijou Phillips arrived for trial at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse on May 12, 2023
In the second trial, prosecutors placed much more emphasis than in the first trial on their allegations that Masterson drugged his victims by spiking their drinks before raping them.
Another difference between the two trials was that the second trial added the testimony of another “victim” – a woman who claimed Masterson raped her in Toronto in 2000, although he was never charged with the alleged assault.
Of the two women Masterson was convicted of raping, Jane Doe 1 testified that she was at the actor’s home in April 2003, where he gave her a fruity red drink with vodka that made her feel light-headed, then placed her in his hot tub threw and she carried upstairs where she passed out and woke up to see him raping her
She fought back, pressing a pillow in his face, she told the jury. But he pushed it in her face again, choking her and she passed out again.
When she woke up, she said, Masterson opened a bedside drawer and pulled out a gun, which he brandished and told her, “Don’t you fucking move.”
Jane Doe 2 – who the actor was also convicted of raping – met Masterson at a bar in 2003 and gave him her phone number. He called her and invited her to his home.
She went and after drinking and soaking in his hot tub, she found herself with him in his bathroom shower where, she told the jury, he “suddenly pushed his penis into her vagina.”
They ended up in Masterson’s bed, where, despite her protests, he turned her over and began hitting her from behind “like a jackhammer,” she testified, adding that she felt “like a limp rag doll.”
Jane Doe 3 – against whom Masterson was charged with rape but not convicted – lived with Masterson for six years. She was only 17 when she met him and he persuaded her to become a Scientologist, she told the court.
About a year into their relationship, he became very “controlling … and very sexually aggressive” — she would often wake up at night and he would be laying on top of her and having sex with her, she said.
In one such incident in November 2001, when she woke up to find he was having sex with her, she said no and tried to push him away, the court learned.
When that didn’t work, she pulled his hair. But he retaliated by slapping her in the face and calling her “white trash,” she told the jury.
Masterson’s attorney, Philip Cohen, complained of “inconsistencies” in the women’s testimonies and statements to police and accused them of “obvious fabrications.”
And he claimed the three “worked together,” choreographing and “altering” their rape stories to help get Masterson convicted – which in turn could help them win a large sum of money in the civil lawsuit they are filing against him and Scientology -Church have made efforts.