Actor Danny Masterson Under Investigation for Sexual Assaults
That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson is under investigation for the alleged sexual assaults of three women, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Friday.
In a statement, the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division, Sexual Assault section confirmed that are “conducting an investigation involving the actor Danny Masterson. Three women have come forward and disclosed that they were sexually assaulted by Masterson during the early 2000s.”
Authorities did not provide any further details regarding the alleged assaults.
Masterson’s representatives called the allegations “false” in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, adding that the accusations dated back 14 to 16 years ago. The rep also blamed actress Leah Remini for the resurfacing of the allegations; both Masterson and Remini were Scientologists before the actress’ high-profile exit from the church.
One of the accusers is an ex-girlfriend of the actor, and the incident allegedly “occurred in the middle of their six-year relationship, after which she continued to be his longtime girlfriend,” Masterson’s reps said.
“We are aware of [the alleged victim’s] 16-year-old allegations. It was only after [the alleged victim] was in contact with Leah Remini that she made allegations of sexual assault by Mr. Masterson,” the actor’s reps continued.
Another alleged victim accused Masterson of sexually assaulting her during a party at the actor’s house in 2003.
Police revealed their investigation into Masterson’s sexual assault allegations hours after Tony Ortega’s Scientology watchdog site Underground Bunker posted about the incidents and a subsequent, “bungled” LAPD investigation involving Masterson in the early 2000s.
The site also alluded to a Church of Scientology cover-up, with witnesses and even victims pressured into remaining quiet or providing contradictory testimony. The LAPD did not comment on those accusations.
Remini now appears on the A&E series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, which in part empowered one of the victims to come forward, the Underground Bunker writes.