LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The Church of Scientology has been the elephant in the room throughout Danny Masterson’s criminal trial that led to his guilty verdict on two out of three counts of rape on Wednesday, May 31. The ‘That 70s Show’ star has a long history with the organization dating back to his childhood days and while the Church of Scientology has not been on trial with Masterson, witnesses have often discussed his association with it during proceedings.
Reports suggest that a judge presiding over the trial attempted to keep the Church of Scientology outside the courtroom but all three women accusers, who are former members of the organization, claimed that the church tried to cover up their assault in order to protect Masterson, who is their lifelong member. The Church of Scientology refuted the claims and previously told Insider that it cooperates with law enforcement and demands its members “abide by all laws of the land.” In the wake of Masterson’s guilty verdict, let us take a look at his life as a Scientologist.
Danny Masterson's history with the Church of Scientology
Masterson, born on March 13, 1976, to parents Carol and Peter, grew up in Albertson, Garden City and East Williston, New York. He was reportedly raised in a family that practiced Scientology but only realized the impact of the church on his life when he was in junior high school. “In Scientology, there’s no belief system or anyone who’s worshipped or whatnot; it’s all sort of like college of the mind,” he told Paper Magazine in 2015.
“And so I grew up not having to go and pray to anyone. I grew up just sort of like, ‘Oh, if you’re thirsty, drink water,’” Masterson added. The actor was reportedly 15 years old when he began studying the book called ‘Dianetics', a set of ideas laid down by Church of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard to study the mind. “[Ron] basically spent his entire life studying every great religion, found everything that worked, found things that didn’t work, took the stuff that worked, started like questioning it and grilling it and drilling it, going over and over until he could find the things that worked every time, guaranteed,” Masterson explained at the time.
While Masterson was raised in the Church of Scientology, his stepfather, Joe Reaiche, was reportedly deemed a “suppressive person” by the church in 2005 for questioning certain teachings. However, the former said he was never bullied or called out for his or his family’s beliefs and history. “I’ve never been given a hard time my entire life about my belief system or my philosophy in life,” Masterson told the outlet. “If you’re curious about something, I’ll give you my one or two-minute version of my opinion on it, but it’s also like that’s my opinion on what I read. You should read it for yourself, and decide whether you agree or disagree with it,” he added.
Actress Leah Remini, who is a former Scientologist and presently a strong critic of the church, related Masterson’s actions to his upbringing in the church after the latter was accused of sexual assault in 2017. “Finally, victims are being heard when it comes to Scientology! Praise the lord! This is just the beginning Scientology, your days of getting away with it is coming to an end!” she tweeted when Masterson was charged with the rapes of the three women in 2020. Last year, the Insider reported that the women accused church officials of allegedly protecting Masterson for his “good standing” in the organization and discouraging his victims from reporting their allegations.
‘Scientology handles those things’
Masterson opened up about his dedication to Scientology during his 2015 Paper Magazine interview and spoke about a specific field Scientologists usually disagree with. “You will not find a Scientologist who does not f***ing hate psychiatrists. Because their solution for mental and spiritual problems is drugs,” the actor said. “Scientology handles those things, those mental problems that people have. It gets rid of them. It gets rid of them by that person doing it for themselves. That’s the solution to depression,” he added.
Irrespective of people questioning his beliefs, Masterson continued to remain loyal to the church. “I work, I have a family and I’m a spiritual being who likes to understand why things happen in the world and want to learn more so that I can have them not affect me adversely. So if that’s weird, then, well, you can go f*** yourself,” he mentioned.
