Danny Masterson,
LOS ANGELES:
former star of the long-running sitcom “That ’70s Show,” is about to face three women in court who say he raped them two decades ago at a trial whose key figures are all current or former members of the Church of Scientology.
Opening statements could begin as early as Tuesday in the Los Angeles trial of the 46-year-old Masterson, and while a judge has expressed her determination not to have the church become the center of the proceedings, it will inevitably loom large.
Masterson is charged with raping the women between 2001 and 2003 in his home, which functioned as a social hub when he was at the height of his fame. Masterson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
One of the women had been Masterson’s longtime girlfriend. Another was a longtime friend, and the third a newer acquaintance.
All three were members of the Church of Scientology, as Masterson still is. All three accusers have since left, and they said the church’s insistence that it deal internally with problems
“This is not going to become a trial on Scientology,” Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo asserted at a pre-trial hearing. But she said she would allow its discussion as a reason why the women delayed reporting to authorities.
Testimony at a preliminary hearing last year to determine whether Masterson should go to trial last year included frequent use of Scientology jargon that lawyers had to ask the witnesses to explain. And the trial’s witness list is full of members and former members of the church, which has a strong presence in Los Angeles and has counted many famous figures among its members. The list includes former member
Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter
Elvis Presley and former wife of
Michael Jackson.
Masterson’s initial attorney in the case, Thomas Mesereau, emphasized his client’s Scientology connections, saying his arrest was the result of anti-religious bias from police and prosecutors. The lawyer attempted unsuccessfully to subpoena alleged communications between the accusers and actor Leah Remini, a former Scientologist who has become on of the church’s foremost detractors, authoring a book and hosting
NEW YORK: testified in a New York courtroom Monday that he never made a sexual pass at the actor Anthony Rapp, who has sued, claiming the Academy Award-winning actor tried to take him to bed when he was 14.
Kevin Spacey
Identifying himself as “Kevin Spacey Fowler,” the actor was asked about Rapp’s claims that a then-26-year-old Spacey picked him up like a groom does a bride after a 1986 party.
Rapp testified earlier in the trial that he squirmed out from underneath Spacey in the fully clothed encounter before fleeing the apartment, only to have Spacey follow him to the door and ask if he was sure he wanted to leave.
“They are not true,” Spacey said of the allegations.
Spacey said he had met Rapp and another aspiring actor, John Barrowman, backstage following Spacey’s Broadway performance in “Long Day’s Journey into Night.”
He said he took them to dinner, to a nightclub and finally to his studio apartment- who was 19 at the time - but showed no interest in Rapp before the two visitors left.
“Anthony Rapp seemed like a kid and John Barrowman seemed like a man,” Spacey said in an account that was backed up by a deposition by Barrowman. (AP)