Danny Masterson’s long-time publicist appeared to suggest that a woman cannot be raped by a man she is in a relationship with as she defended the actor against allegations from his ex-girlfriend.
In October 2016, publicist Jenni Weinman was on the phone with one of four women who say Masterson, 41, drugged and raped them in the early 2000s – accusations he strongly denies.
They were discussing the allegations of Chrissie Bixler, Masterson’s former girlfriend who had just tweeted that he raped her while they were dating in 2001.
The recording was obtained by The Huffington Post and published on Thursday as Masterson’s acting career hung in the balance of the ongoing police investigation which was prompted by Bixler’s allegation and the claims of three others.
In the recording, Weinman said: ‘Chrissie was Danny’s girlfriend at the time so there’s really nothing, there’s no story there.’
Publicist Jenni Weinman defended her client Danny Masterson in a phone call with one of his four rape accusers by suggesting that he could not have raped his ex-girlfriend – another of his accusers – because they were in a relationship
Incredulous, the other woman pushed on: ‘He raped her,’ but Weinman stuck to her argument.
Weinman replied: ‘They were boyfriend and girlfriend and they dated and they f****ed for a year after they broke up so I don’t think that…’
Bixler and Masterson were together for six years in the early 2000s.
Both were Scientologists and she claims she was silenced by the church after reporting the alleged rape in a ‘knowledge report’.
Bixler says that in 2001, she woke up one morning to find her anus bleeding. When she asked Ranch star Masterson what had happened the night before, he said: ‘We had anal sex.’
She says he then told her she was making him ‘feel bad’ when she pointed out that it was not consensual.
The comment was directed towards Chrissie Bixler, Masteron’s former girlfriend who says he anally raped her when she was asleep in 2001. They were in a relationship at the time
Bixler stayed quiet for years out of fear of retribution and in adherence to Scientology rules which state members of the church do not report one another to the police.
Once she and Masteron had broken up and she left the religion, she contacted law enforcement with her claims.
Weinman has poked holes in the timing of her claims.
In a statement to Huffington Post about the recording, she said it was ‘illogical’ for a sexual abuse victim to wait so long before reporting it and said: ‘I never saw anything but a consensual relationship’.
‘Her claims coming after almost 16 years were surprising and shocking to say the least.
‘My conversation with any alleged victim came from a place of sincerity, and curiosity as to why they would wait and why now, it just seemed so illogical,’ she said.
Bixler is the only one of his accusers who has been identified. She claims he sexually assaulted her twice during their relationship.
The unnamed accuser who spoke with Weinman said she too was defiled by him when she was asleep, but the publicist appeared to undermine it by pointing it she was not asleep when she was dropped off at a property before the alleged attack.
‘You were not unconscious when I dropped you off…So I’m trying to figure out what happened, because I don’t imagine you would just go into someone’s house and then get raped,’ she said.
Angry, she then called the accuser ‘rude’ for suggesting that she did not care about her.
‘It’s not that I don’t care. That’s kind of rude. Like, I have kids, and I’m a mother, and I’m a woman ― of course I’m curious, which is why I called you.
‘If I didn’t give a s**t, I would have been like, whatever, have the legal people call you.
‘You don’t know me, so that’s not anything about me.’
Weinman was savaged online for appearing to suggest that rape between partners does not count
Masteron (above with Ashton Kutcher on the Netflix show Ranch) denies the allegations. Ranch is still being shown despite an ongoing police investigation into the claims against him
The second accuser was also a member of the Church of Scientology. She filed her police report in 2004 and was ex-communicated as a result.
As the audio emerged on Thursday, Bixler continued tweeting about the ongoing case against her ex-boyfriend.
Labeling him a ‘charming sociopath,’ she claimed there were more phone calls like the one between Weinman and the second accuser which had not yet come to light.
Police are still investigating the accusations against Masteron.
In the meantime, new episodes of the Netflix show Ranch, in which he appears along with Ashton Kutcher, will be aired.
The decision has been met with fury by Bixler and other Netflix subscribers who called for it to be cancelled like House of Cards was when allegations against Kevin Spacey came to light.
Netflix claims the decision was made months before the Spacey scandal erupted but that it was ‘deeply troubled’ by the news and had banned him from the show’s set.
Masterson is now married to Bijou Phillips with whom he has one child. He is still a Scientologist.
The church denied accusations it had any role in covering up rapes or sexual assaults in a statement earlier this month.
‘It is per se defamatory to accuse the Church of engaging in, fostering, or covering up criminal behavior. The Church will not stand by idly and be accused, directly or by implication, of committing a crime,’ it read.