I want to apologize for being so direct in my headline. I hope it didn’t trigger anyone. I just didn’t want to sugarcoat anything. You see Danny Masterson, known best for his role of Steven Hyde on “That 70’s Show” is currently on trial for rape. And it should be named as such.
Masterson is also a Scientologist and many believe that could help or hurt him, depending on your belief of how powerful the church is.
But at a pre-trial hearing last week, Judge Charlaine Olmedo laid down a basic ground rule. “This is not going to become a trial on Scientology,” she said.
Masterson and all three of his victims are Scientologists and at a preliminary hearing in May 2021, all three said they feared violating the church’s rules and being cut off from their faith community.
“If you have a legal situation, you may not handle it externally from the church,” testified one of the accusers, who is referenced as N. Trout in the proceedings. “You’ll be excommunicated.”
So there are many layers to this trial, not least of which are three accusations of rape. We’ll follow closely to see what happens next.