In a new lawsuit filed Wednesday, four women who previously accused actor Danny Masterson of sexual assault said that Masterson, the Church of Scientology, and Scientology leader David Miscavige stalked them, invaded their privacy and conspired to obstruct justice.
Among the plaintiffs are Chrissie Carnell Bixler and Marie Riales, both of whom previously dated Masterson, two women identified as Jane Does, and Bixler’s husband, Cedric Bixler-Zavala.
The suit says the four women came to know Masterson through Scientology. It accuses Masterson, Miscavige and the group of engaging in a campaign of harassment and intimidation in order to compel the plaintiffs to drop their accusations against Masterson. Among other accusations, the suit says that Bixler and one of the Jane Does were confronted by a member of the church at a sexual violence prevention event, that Bixler was run off the road by a car that had been following her, and that Bixler’s property was vandalized and her house was put under surveillance.
Bixler has previously accused the Scientology organization of attempts to silence and intimidate her.
Masterson has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and did so again Wednesday night. “I’m not going to fight my ex-girlfriend in the media like she’s been baiting me to do for more than two years,” Masterson said in a statement provided to TheWrap by his attorney. “I will beat her in court — and look forward to it because the public will finally be able to learn the truth and see how I’ve been railroaded by this woman. And once her lawsuit is thrown out, I intend to sue her, and the others who jumped on the bandwagon, for the damage they caused me and my family.”
“From everything we have read in the press, this baseless lawsuit will go nowhere because the claims are ludicrous and a sham,” a legal representative for the Church of Scientology said in a statement provided to TheWrap. “It’s a dishonest and hallucinatory publicity stunt. Leah Remini is taking advantage of these people as pawns in her moneymaking scam.”
Masterson was fired from his Netflix sitcom “The Ranch” in December, 2017, eight months after the Los Angeles Police Department opened investigations into accusations by three women, including Bixler, that he sexually assaulted them in the early 2000s.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified general damages, compensatory damages for “medical, hospital and incidental expenses,” punitive damages, payment of legal fees, and any further damages as determined by the court.
The Huffington Post first reported the lawsuit.