There have been accusations of sexual assault and rape against That ’70s Show and The Ranch actor Danny Masterson for a while now, as at least four women have come forward over the years with stories that the Church Of Scientology—of which Masterson is a high-profile member—helped cover up and silence incidents in which the actor raped them. Last week, one of those women—Chrissie Carnell Bixler—went on the record, telling The Daily Beast that, when she went to the Church with the allegations against Masterson, she was told, “Danny Masterson is a celebrity. He flourishes and prospers in life. You protect that and reward that.” (The church denies the accusations.)
Bixler says she was motivated to make a public statement earlier this year, when Netflix touted Masterson while it was renewing The Ranch:
For me, what Netflix has done, feels like a continuation of how the Church of Scientology made me feel when I reported my rape to them, as well as how Danny Masterson made me feel when I would beg him for an apology, an explanation, anything. I was made to feel unimportant. I was made to feel like I didn’t matter. Like what Danny Masterson did to me didn’t matter. My body doesn’t matter, because it doesn’t belong to me. The trauma and emotional pain doesn’t matter, because I just don’t matter.
This isn’t the first time Bixler’s emotions about her alleged experiences with Masterson have bled into popular culture, though. She’s married to At The Drive-In frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala, who today blasted the Church for its handling of the situation, and last week hinted that lyrics on the band’s most recent record, in•ter a•li•a, were directly about Masterson’s alleged actions.
Picking through the album, people have been quick to find apparent references to the Church, including this bit from the song “Incurably Innocent,” which references L.A.’s Franklin Avenue, where the Chruch’s massive Celebrity Centre International is located:
He keeps a-hiding your photograph
Of the moment that you needed to emasculate his
Photograph but you locked up in the trance of a memory
Photograph of the moment that you needed to emasculate his
Photograph but you locked up in the trance of a memory
Marching to the coffins on Franklin Avenue
Preyed on the anguish, you better run
Always dragging a finger across his throat
Man is the fixer to sage the ghosts
And the faith that awarded his every move
The LAPD’s investigation into the accusations against Masterson is technicallyongoing, although at last report, it had supposedly stalled out.