Actor Danny Masterson, a star of That ’70s Show, has been charged with raping three women, the Los Angeles County District Attorney announced Wednesday.

Masterson allegedly forcibly raped the unnamed women—a 23-year-old, a 28-year-old, and another 23-year-old—between 2001 and 2003. His arraignment is scheduled for September, and if he’s convicted, he’ll face 45 years to life in prison. 

The District Attorney’s office also noted it had declined to file charges against Masterson in two additional cases—one for lack of evidence and one due to the passage of the statute of limitations.

Masterson’s attorney denied the allegations in a statement: “Mr. Masterson is innocent, and we’re confident that he will be exonerated when all the evidence comes to light and witnesses have the opportunity to testify.”

The actor was fired from Netflix’s show The Ranch, which he co-produced and starred in with fellow ’70s Show actor Ashton Kutcher, when the allegations originally broke in 2017. The accusations against Masterson are notable for their involvement of the Church of Scientology, which has gone after his accusers in an alleged attempt to silence them. Masterson is a member of the religious organization, and the mother of one of his accusers has penned multiple letters to Scientology leadership pleading for action against the actor.

“Where is the Justice code?” the mother asked, referring to how the church treated her daughter. She alleged that the church pressured the victim to meet with Masterson despite the violent nature of her accusation—Masterson allegedly smothered the victim with a pillow and choked her—and attempted to impose a de facto fine by obliging her to complete expensive Scientology “auditing” courses. Her daughter came close to being labeled a “suppressive person,” which would in effect evict her from the church. “Celebs are exempt from these codes?…The fate of any young girl going anywhere near Danny lies in our hands, please help me.”

Four women filed suit against Masterson and the Church of Scientology in August 2019, alleging stalking and intimidation aimed at burying the allegations. One plaintiff said her dog had been murdered.

The allegations against Masterson have been public knowledge for several years, first coming to light in March 2017. The Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation reportedly stalled inexplicably for several months that same year.

Before his dismissal from The Ranch, his accusers blasted Netflix and Kutcher multiple times for continuing to air the show and even ordering a new season. Kutcher even attended Masterson’s 2018 wedding more than a year after news of the allegations broke.

In January 2019, one of Masterson’s accusers, Chrissie Carnell Bixler, blasted Kutcher’s relationship with the actor in a statement to The Daily Beast.

“Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have positioned themselves as champions for women, children, fighting against sexual abuses and sex trafficking. Public supporters of the Me Too movement and Time’s Up. Ashton and Mila were at the forefront marching in the Women’s March on March 13, 2018, in Los Angeles,” she wrote.

“As much as I applaud them for standing up for women, I am left confused and heartbroken as to why they refuse to stand up for all the women they know who have been violently raped by their friend Danny Masterson.” 

The cable network A&E pulled an episode of its high-profile show Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath in February 2019 that focused on the accusations against Masterson after what one of his accusers described as a campaign of hateful letters written to A&E. 

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Octavia may have been the one getting her mind probed, but it’s safe to say that all of our brains are probably exhausted after Wednesday’s episode of The 100.

Here’s the thing about interstellar travel and time dilation — you either totally get it, or you just kind of nod along while you attempt to piece the story together in your brain and hope no one notices. I put myself firmly in the latter category, so you can imagine how much fun I had figuring out this week’s episode, which connected the show’s current action with several events from the previous season. Here’s what went down this week, though perhaps not in this order:

PLANET BARDO, 45 DAYS AGO | The episode begins with Octavia and Diyoza arriving on Planet Bardo, and although they put up a decent fight against their captors, both women are taken into the Disciples’ custody. Under the direction of Anders, the leader of the Disciples, a man named Levitt begins probing Octavia’s brain for useful information. Though her brain offers flashes of many familiar faces — including deceased characters like Lincoln, Lexa, Jaha and… was that Pike? — Octavia’s captors seem particularly interested in Bellamy and Clarke, the latter of whom is believed to be key to winning mankind’s final battle.

PLANET BARDO, 34 DAYS AGO | Over the next 11 days, Levitt basically binges the first few seasons of The 100 via Octavia’s memories, offering an interesting take on the warrior’s growth. “You’re amazing,” he tells her. “Maybe you lost your way somewhere, but you sacrificed so much for the people you love. Even as a child, forced to hide under the floor. You were terrified, but you never made a sound, because you knew that if they found you they’d punish Bellamy and kill your mother. You’re not a killer, Octavia. You’re a warrior, to be sure, but your heart is pure.” She replies, “Wait until you get to Blodreina.” (Uh… Spoiler alert!)

This nice moment is interrupted by grown-up Hope, who enjoys a brief reunion with her Auntie O. before helping her escape through the Anomaly. Levitt explains that because Octavia is going through without a helmet, she won’t retain any of her memories, so he scans Hope’s brain code and tattoos it on Octavia’s back. (This is one of those things you just have to shrug off with a “Sure, I guess that makes sense.”) While Hope goes to look for her mother, Octavia returns to Sanctum (circa Season 6 Episode 8) and is greeted by Gabriel.

PLANET BARDO, 7 DAYS AGO | We learn that Hope has been captured by Anders, who tells her that he’ll spare Diyoza’s life if Hope goes to Sanctum and retrieves Octavia. With no other options, she does as he requests, emerging from the Anomaly circa the show’s sixth season finale. (At the time, we thought that Hope was stabbing Octavia with a dagger, but we now know that it was a retrieval device.) The Disciples continue probing Octavia’s memories, though Levitt is considered too sympathetic to her plight, so Anders takes him off the case. To be fair, Anders isn’t wrong for doing so. Before he’s reassigned, Levitt sneaks a message (“trust Bellamy”) into Hope’s arm and teaches Octavia a secret trick to protecting her mind from the Disciples’ technology. I knew I liked him!

Anders then interrupts Octavia’s second round of probing with an announcement: Her presence is required to talk down Bardo’s newest guest… Bellamy! Octavia promises Anders that she’ll tell him everything he wants to know (“even about Clarke”) if he lets Bellamy go back to Sanctum. He agrees to her terms, but that doesn’t stop one of the other Disciples from going rogue and neutralizing himself… and Bellamy?!

PLANET BARDO, PRESENT | Here’s the thing about Bellamy’s supposed “death” we have to keep in mind: We don’t actually see it happen until Echo, Gabriel and Hope arrive in Bardo seven days later. And even then, it’s only a projection from Octavia’s brain. Levitt told her the secret to overpowering the Disciples’ technology, so it’s entirely possible that Octavia purposely fabricated that memory for reasons unbeknownst to the rest of us. Regardless, Echo is fully convinced that Bellamy is dead, and she takes her righteous fury out on Levitt’s replacement. (Rest in pieces, buddy!)

MOON SANCTUM, PRESENT | Wonkru must resort to drastic measures when the Primes’ remaining believers (a group now known as “the Faithful”) begin sacrificing themselves in protest of Russell’s incarceration. Murphy attempts to talk them down, but they immediately turn on him when he accidentally reveals himself to be a fraud. (Oops!) Fortunately, Russell shows up to verify that Murphy is who he claims to be, and to tell his people to stop killing themselves for him.

With that problem solved, along comes a new — arguably worse — predicament: Indra figures out that “Russell” is actually Sheidheda, leading to a tense exchange of unpleasantries between them. “I may not be able to kill you,” she says, “but I can make sure that when I do, you don’t come back.” She then orders a removal of the mind drive in his neck without the use of any painkillers. “Let him feel it,” she says. “For Abby.” (Yes!)

Your thoughts on this week’s time-bending, mind-blowing, heartbreaking episode of The 100? More importantly, do we trust that Bellamy is really gone? Drop ’em in a comment below.

Click here to read the full article.

Actor Danny Masterson has been charged with raping three women between 2001 and 2003, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office announced on Wednesday.

Masterson, 44, was charged with three counts of rape, and faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted. He was arrested by the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division on Wednesday morning, and was released in the afternoon on $3.3 million bail.

More from Variety

An arraignment has been set for Sept. 18.

The former “That ’70s Show” actor is accused of raping a 23-year-old woman sometime between January and December of 2001. He allegedly raped a 28-year-old woman in April 2003. And the charges allege that raped another 23-year-old woman at his Hollywood Hills home between October and December of 2003.

Tom Mesereau, Masterson’s attorney, issued a statement vowing to fight the charges.

“Mr. Masterson is innocent, and we’re confident that he will be exonerated when all the evidence finally comes to light and witnesses have the opportunity to testify,” Mesereau said. “Obviously, Mr. Masterson and his wife are in complete shock considering that these nearly 20-year old allegations are suddenly resulting in charges being filed, but they and their family are comforted knowing that ultimately the truth will come out. The people who know Mr. Masterson know his character and know the allegations to be false.”

Masterson has been under investigation by the LAPD since late 2016. He was dropped from the Netflix series “The Ranch” in December 2017, amid renewed focus on sexual misconduct in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Masterson has vehemently and repeatedly denied the allegations.

The District Attorney’s office also said Wednesday that it had declined to file charges against Masterson in two other cases. In one of those cases, a woman alleged that she had been repeatedly raped by Masterson while living with him in 2002. Prosecutors declined to file charges due to insufficient evidence, according to a charge evaluation worksheet. In the second instance, a woman alleged that Masterson had raped her twice — once at his home, and once at hers — while she was unconscious in August and September of 1996. That case was declined due to the statute of limitations.

In August 2019, four women filed suit against Masterson and the Church of Scientology, alleging they were harassed and stalked in retaliation for going to the police.

Chrissie Carnell Bixler, one of the plaintiffs, alleged that Masterson repeatedly sexually assaulted her in late 2001 and early 2002. She was in a relationship with Masterson at the time, and alleges that on one occasion Masterson drugged her wine and anally assaulted her. According to the suit, Masterson admitted the following morning that he had assaulted her while she was unconscious.

A second woman, identified in the suit as Jane Doe #1, alleged that Masterson made her a drink during a party in April 2003, which made her feel sick and disoriented. She alleged that Masterson carried her upstairs and put her in the shower, after which she passed out on his bed. She alleged that she awoke to find him raping her, according to the suit. The date of the incident cited in the lawsuit matches the date of one of the rapes in the criminal complaint.

Texas State is launching an investigation into men’s head basketball coach Danny Kaspar, who has been accused by two former players of repeatedly hurling racist remarks to the team.

According to former point guard Jaylen Shead, Kaspar said that his players would run faster if a “brown man with a [turban] and an AK-47” was there, that a European player needed to improve or he would be deported and that Shead once was “running like the cops are behind him.”

Shead transferred to Washington State last season after two years at Texas State.

“For me, the experience was shocking,” Shead tweeted. “I could overlook the way coach Kaspar treated players in most regards. I could overlook the lies he fed us to get us there and keep us there. I could overlook the way he disregarded the rules and our health. But I could not turn away from the many racially insensitive things that were said to me and other teammates.

“These things happened so much on a daily bases [sic], we became numb as it was normal.”

Kaspar, 65, has been at Texas State since 2013, previously serving as head coach at Stephen F. Austin for 13 years.

“I personally find these allegations deeply troubling,” athletic director Larry Teis said in a statement. “I, and the entire Department of Athletics staff, take the concerns expressed by our former student-athletes very seriously. At my request, the university has launched a formal investigation through the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX. It is our top priority to fully cooperate with the investigation.”

Shead, inspired to speak out by the nationwide protests following George Floyd’s death, said Kaspar would tell black players to “chase that chicken” when the coach wanted them to run faster, and told those struggling academically that they would eventually work at Popeyes.

Former Texas state player Alex Peacock supported Shead’s allegations, saying players stayed silent because they feared the consequences to their basketball careers.

“There is no embellishment in what he said,” Peacock told ESPN. “The first time I heard him tell somebody to ‘chase that bucket of chicken,’ I’m like, ‘Hold on. Being a player, it’s hard to come out when you’re in it, when you’re playing, because you don’t know what the ramifications will be.”

According to Peacock, Kaspar also allegedly told players he could utter slang derived from the N-word, used by players.

“He told the black players that if you can use it, I can use it,” Peacock said. “That’s one of the ones where you’re like, ‘OK … no.’ Those are two different meanings than when we use it.”

The NCAA had a chance to do the right thing on Friday and, in a stunning turn of events, completely missed the mark.

Who saw that one coming?

The punishment that the Committee on Infractions handed down to Oklahoma State on Friday, a one-year postseason ban to go along with scholarship reductions and myriad recruiting sanctions, was wrong and should be utterly terrifying for the other programs that found themselves caught up in the FBI’s investigation into college basketball corruption.

Oklahoma State faced a single Level I violation. It was an unethical conduct charge levied at former assistant coach Lamont Evans, who accepted at least $18,150 in bribes from financial advisors in exchange for peddling influence over one player from Oklahoma State and one player from South Carolina, where Evans was coaching before accepting a job on Brad Underwood’s staff in the spring of 2016. Evans was also accused of giving Jeffery Carroll $300.

That’s it.

Evans provided no competitive advantage for Oklahoma State, unless you consider the $300 he paid to Carroll — who was already on the roster and suspended for three games as a result — a competitive advantage. Evans was lining his pockets. He was not doing this to benefit the basketball program. Technically speaking, the players Evans claimed to have the power of persuasion over were the victims of the crimes that got him sentenced to three months in prison on federal bribery charges. He steered them to financial advisors that were willing to shell out bribe money. He knew nothing about the people that he was telling these players to invest their money with. One of the men Evans accepted bribes from was Marty Blazer, who sparked this entire investigation to try and avoid prison when he was caught by the SEC embezzling millions of dollars from clients.

That’s where Evans was guiding players who trusted him.

The players were the victims.

Despite that, Oklahoma State was still hit with a one-year postseason ban. Evans has been gone for three years. Carroll has been gone for two. Neither the current head coach — Mike Boynton — or the head coach the violations were committed under — Brad Underwood — were mentioned in the Notice of Allegations.

“There were no recruiting or other major violations on the part of the institution,” Oklahoma State said in a statement in November. “There are no allegations involving current student-athletes or coaching staff.”

None of that mattered to the Committee on Infractions.

They dropped the hammer on Oklahoma State, effectively neutering what was the most anticipated OSU season since Marcus Smart returned for his sophomore year. So much for seeing Cade Cunningham play in the NCAA tournament. Hell, we may not see Cunningham play for Oklahoma State, period. He was offered the chance to join the G League prospect pathway program, reportedly for as much money as Jalen Green. If he’s not going to play meaningful games at Oklahoma State, maybe he reconsiders the offer.

“Whatever the best option is for him we’re going to support 100 percent without any reservations,” Boynton said.

This gets to the core of the problem when it comes to NCAA enforcement: They far too often punish players and coaches for violations that they took no part in. What did Cunningham, or anyone else on Oklahoma State’s roster, have to do with Lamont Evans accepting bribes from a white collar felon that had been flipped by the FBI? How was anyone associated with the Oklahoma State athletic department supposed to prevent one assistant coach from accepting those bribes?

“A postseason ban for a bunch of kids that were 15, 16 years old when a lot of this was going on? It’s completely, completely out of bounds,” Boynton said.

He’s not wrong.

A postseason ban is total overkill.

That is the most infuriating part is that the NCAA was actually able to punish the man responsible. That’s not usually the case. Evans received a 10-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA in addition to a three month jail sentence for pleading guilty. His coaching career is effectively over. He’ll never be a Division I head coach. He’ll never coach at a level where he is able to earn a couple hundred grand as an assistant. The person entirely at fault for this situation had his life blown up.

And Oklahoma State still got a postseason ban despite the fact that, as Larry Parkinson of the Committee on Infractions said, “the institution fully cooperated from the moment they learned about the circumstances.”

That should be a major red flag for everyone else caught up in this investigation.

USC, Arizona and Auburn all had an assistant coach plead guilty to similar charges as Evans. Louisville committed their violations while they were on probation from the last scandal the program was embroiled in. Oklahoma State faced one Level I violation. Kansas faces five, and they’ve made quite clear they aren’t going to be as cooperative.

If the Committee on Infractions has set the bar here, everyone else better be ready to catch the book that gets thrown at them.

The 1980 Scottish Cup final was up there with any of them; he set up the winning and only goal in extra-time, picked up the sponsor’s Man of the Match award at the end of 120 energy-sapping minutes and then lifted the famous trophy aloft as captain.

Alas, the riot that broke out on the pitch after the final whistle kind of overshadowed his outstanding personal display and the result.

“This is like a scene out of Apocalypse Now,” said Archie MacPherson famously in his BBC commentary as Celtic and Rangers fans clashed and mounted police charged them in a desperate bid to restore order.

It had certainly been The Longest Day for McGrain and his team mates before that.

“It was an Old Firm derby, a cup final and the last game of the season so it was a tense occasion,” said McGrain as he looked back on the match, which took place 40 years ago today, earlier on this week.

“It was scorching hot as well. I remember it being a torrid game, a real end-to-end affair. It was quite scrappy if you ask me. I wouldn’t say it was a classic. But it ended up being fantastic for us because we won it.”

The fatigue that Billy McNeill’s men were feeling as the edgy encounter wore on didn’t prevent them from taking the lead after Davie Provan had swung a corner kick into the opposition penalty area in the 108th minute.

“When the cross came over I thought: ‘We need to get this ball out the park’,” said McGrain. “I was tired and the whole team was tired. It was such a hot day. We had everybody up for the corner kick so we could score from it and win the game from there. But I thought: ‘If I lose the ball here the next player behind me is big Peter (goalkeeper Latchford)’.

“It was a comical corner kick. It broke to me outside the box. My first instinct was to get the ball out the park, to waste time. I miskicked it. George (McCluskey) stuck his foot out and it went in. A typical George McCluskey goal! I think Peter McCloy (the Rangers keeper) must have been too busy chuckling at my effort to save it!”

The shameful events that unfolded after referee George Smith brought an end to proceedings were no laughing matter.

“It was a great moment to be presented with the trophy,” said McGrain. “We had just beaten our greatest rivals after extra-time, our side of Glasgow was going mental. We were looking forward to going out onto the park to celebrate with our fans. I looked out and saw a few people on the park. I thought: ‘Well, I suppose that’s allowed in the circumstances’. But all of a sudden there were 200, 300, there.

“When we went down to the stairs to the pitch side we were told we couldn’t go out on the park to do the lap of honour. We didn’t know what was happening. A policemen came over and said: ‘It’s a battle out there’. It was the right decision. There were too many arms and legs flying about. It wouldn’t have been safe.

“When we came out of the ground there was a lot of police running about chasing people. But we got on the bus with the cup, not giving two hoots about anything. We were in our own world. We weren’t really aware of quite how bad it was. By the time we got back to Celtic Park, though, we had heard on the radio what had happened, how many people had been arrested.”

It was an unfortunate way for Bobby Lennox to bow out at Celtic. The Lisbon Lion, who had come on for Johnny Doyle in the second-half, picked up his 26th winner’s medal that afternoon. But the legendary striker was denied the opportunity to say a farewell to the fans and receive their appreciation for all of his heroics over the previous 17 years. McGrain felt for his friend.

“Bobby is the best guy I have ever met in football,” he said. “He is a nicest man you will ever come across. I played with him from the minute I broke into the team until he left. He was such a great professional. He loved the game.

“He always had a smile on his face Bobby, good, bad or indifferent. He had a great sense of humour. It was a shame for him I suppose. But at the end of the day he got the medal and he got the bonus. I am sure he was quite happy with that.”

McGrain was pleased for McNeill. The European Cup-winning skipper had succeeded Jock Stein two years earlier and lifted the Premier Division title at the end of his debut season in the dugout at Parkhead with a famous final day win over Rangers. But that was his first Scottish Cup triumph as a coach. “It was great for Billy to have done that as a player and then as a manager,” he said.

The riot, the worst in Scottish football in 70 years, led to 210 fans being arrested and 100 people suffering injuries, many of them serious. It also resulted in alcohol being banned from Scottish football grounds, an embargo that remains in place four decades later.

It hasn’t stopped the Celtic players of today growing accustomed to the taste of champagne in the last few years.

McGrain has sympathy for Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and Odsonne Edouard just now. They have been denied the chance to win a record-equalling ninth consecutive Scottish title and complete a fourth straight domestic treble by the coronavirus pandemic and football shutdown.

Neil Lennon’s charges had been due to take on Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-final when the game was suspended in March and could potentially have been taking part in the final yesterday.

“The chance has been taking away from them,” he said. “I am sure it will get finished later in the year when football starts up again. But going to Hampden in May to play in the Scottish Cup final is a great tradition and they have been denied that. Still, they have got to give them the Premiership. I think they deserve it.”

McGrain turned 70 at the start of this month and his birthday celebrations were curtailed somewhat by the Covid-19 outbreak and social distancing restrictions.

However, the Celtic great, a world-class footballer who overcame diabetes and a fractured jaw during his playing days and has made a full recovery from the minor heart attack he suffered six years ago, is meeting the challenge head on.

“It is hard,” he said. “It is a horrible situation. But you have just got to deal with it as best you can. I am okay. I still get out for walks, nothing too strenuous.”