After lunch session, Day 13 (Day 9 of testimony) Danny Masterson retrial
Actress and victims' rights activist Jessica Barth is here today in the audience.
The Masterson crew is somewhat small this afternoon: Bijou Phillips, Carol Masterson, Jordan and Alanna Masterson. And family friend Graham Bruwer.
Continuing with direct examination of Jane Doe 2.
Anson: You went from the bathroom to a bedroom. (Shows a photo of the bedroom.)
Jane Doe 2: This was Danny's bedroom.
(Asks her to describe where she was when was flipped by him for the first time. She describes with a pointer and the screen.)
How were you feeling during this incident, in terms of, were you scared?
Yes. I was feeling so many things at once. Nothing felt deeply coherent. I was scrambling to get my bearings, basically. I was feeling afraid, but also out of it and limp, and I'd kind of given up. So a lot of different things were happening, emotionally. Not just one thing. Like when you're trying to endure something violent, I was trying to be OK. So the thoughts I was having were not really, there wasn't one feeling or thought. It was just a lot at once, the best way I could explain it.
Did the defendant use any weapons?
No.
Did he verbally threaten you?
No.
Did he hit you?
No.
Were you afraid he would hit you?
I was afraid it could be become physically violent if I resisted too much, but I don't think I ever had a clear thought, “he could hit me.” I'm just trying, I'm not having concise clear thoughts. I'm trying to be OK. Now this is happening, he's not listening. There isn't enough time to have singular, cogent thoughts, you're just in the middle of something horrible and you're trying to survive it.
(Photo of JD2) Around how old are you in this photo?
In my early 20s. I'm not sure, somewhere 23-ish, could have been a little after.
Did you look similar during this incident?
Very similar. My hair, the way I did my eyebrows. I weighed less then.
How much?
A buck 20? A buck 22? I'm five eight, and I was pretty thin. I didn't have large breasts, I just was smaller.
I think I know what you mean by a buck twenty...
Sorry, I mean one hundred and twenty two pounds.
After this incident ended, did you and he engage in any other sexual conduct that night?
I feel that there was more that happened. It's really hard to recall. There was something else going on, because I felt like more happened, but it's hard to remember it is what I mean. I remember one thing happened, but I can't place the time of it. So I know more sexual acts happened, though I don't like to characterize it as sex because it was all rape. And more things happened and it was rape. And I remember distinctly that he came on me and then went to get a towel to wipe it up like he was a gentleman for a minute (obj, last part stricken)
You said he came on you, what do you mean?
You asked about more sex, I remember him coming, ejaculating onto my body, he went and got a wet, worn towel and wiped it off of me as if he were being kind.
You said it's hard to remember, is that because of the time versus now, or the symptoms you've been talking about since the jacuzzi.
The symptoms. Things are not cohesive in my head, they are more amorphous, they're harder to, it isn't like I can't remember because it's so long ago, because some things are so vivid and so clear, and other things are so blurry. Other things are black or blacked out.
Did you immediately leave after all sex was completed?
No. We were first talking on his bed, facing each other And we were talking as if what had just happened didn't happen. Almost like it was romantic but it wasn't. The rape was over, and we were just talking about things. I don't know, we were just talking.
Did you go somewhere else to talk?
The terrace. It's off his bedroom, in his bedroom, as I recall it. Where his bed is you just walk straight out on a balcony.
(Photo of bedroom again.) Describes the balcony being opposite the bed.
The two of you talked on the balcony.
Yes.
Why did you stay and continue to talk?
I don't know. I think I was just trying to make what happened into something less upsetting.
Why?
As a coping, a protective mechanism for myself. I didn't want to think of it as something that it was. Because it was someone in my circle of friends, some of his friends were my best friends. I'm in this church with him. I'm not supposed to even have thoughts like that about other members. If I had thought I was raped, I would lose my whole community. I had to quickly, it was also confusing. I knew him a bit, not well, but I knew him enough to have it be confusing. I've been conditioned like pretty much everyone, especially at that time, nobody was reading that kind of stuff, I didn't have a lot, a deep understanding other than very, I didn't have a very true understanding outside of, other than ridiculous PSAs on television, of a stranger jumping out of an alley. And I'd already been told that what I had experience wasn't rape. So I had all of these reasons not to see it that way. I had to quickly make this situation into something I could cope with.
About what time did you leave.
Late. I mean, like, 5, 6 in the morning. I was there a long time.
How did you get home?
I walked home.
How did you feel?
I was in a lot of pain. It hurt in my groin. And I felt really out of it. It was exhaustion I can't describe, I felt profound exhaustion. It even hurt to walk, it hurt in that area.
And mentally?
I didn't feel like blacked out anymore. It felt like a hangover times, I don't want to be exaggerating, but it was an extreme feeling of hungover. And just not like, out of it but not the same out of it. Extreme exhaustion.
After this, did you ever speak to him again?
Yes.
One time or more than tat?
More than one time.
When was the first one?
It as within a few days, four days, five days, something like that.
Who reached out?
I called him.
When you called him, what did you say?
I thought you were going to call me. I thought you liked me, I like you. He might have just said no, but he was very flat. Busy, by.
Why did you call him?
This was still a part of my confusion. There was a short period of time when I had tried my best to recontextualize and reframe this incident for myself so I could survive it. and right after, I thought, maybe if he could do something like that he must like me and want to date me, and that's why I called him. (emotional) And you have to understand I was really young, and like all girls I really didn't know what was going on. I had to reframe it into something different. And I just did not understand. It was very hard to have those different thoughts, and trying to survive it. I'm sorry if I'm not answering that well (crying). I was not feeling like deep feelings for him, I was trying to understand what happened and make it a safe situation for myself. If he did that, he must you know, I don't know how to explain it.
Was there a time when you and he spoke again?
Yes.
About how long after that first call?
I don't remember. Oh, I was at a party. A small one, of my friends.
What happened/?
I was drinking and I wanted to be drinking and have fun and feel high. And I was still pissed at what he did to me, really angry, but I hadn't fully processed it. So it was like, I don't know, I was really upset. I had some liquid courage, I'm going to call him, I knew he knew this guy I had a crush on, so I called him and asked him to set me up with him, and he said no and hung up.
Were you drunk when you called?
Probably. Not really drunk. Just feeling high with friends.
When you say high...
I was not allowed to use drugs. (Just alcohol)
Was there a third time you and he had some interaction?
Yes. I called him.
When?
This is more like 2006 or 2007. I was working part time, I was helping out this vintage art dealer, and he had these very valuable paintings he wanted to sell. And he asked me if I knew anyone who collected art, and so I called Danny. I asked him if he wanted any paintings and he said no.
Was there another time?
Yes. That was 2008, I think? I didn't even know he was going to be at this place. These were non-Scientologists.
Did you see him in person?
Yes.
What happened when you saw him?
This was friends putting on this mini-concert at Space 1520, and there was a courtyard, and everyone scattered, and there was no one in this courtyard, and I turned around and there was Danny. It was really just us. I was very nervous and a little frozen. I said hi. He didn't even say hello. He had a death stare, he looked disgusted. I said How's Ilaria? And he said "Fine." And I said OK and walked away. But I was shaken by it.
After that any interactions?
Not that I recall. I don't think so.
(Now going over when the alleged incident happened, and JD2 saying it might have been late 2003 or early 2004.)
After that incident did you immediately go to law enforcement.
No. I wasn't allowed. I had already been raped by my ex-boyfriend, and I had been told your life is over if you report that. I had already tried to see if I could have some kind of.. acknowledgment and what my options were. And I didn't have options. I knew if I went to ethics in the church, I would be responsible for what happened, and I would have to do something called Conditions and I would have to make amends to him for him raping me. I knew he would deny it and everybody would believe him. I knew it would absolutely decimate my life. I knew if I could just be strong and get through it on my own and not tell anyone it would be way better than having any church know, he was considered an OL (Obj, overruled)
What is OL?
Opinion leader, and they'll say that about anyone who has value to them. You have to have high status -- be famous, have a lot of money, donate a lot of money, having famous friends, they considered that valuable. So if they decide you're successful, you're OL. You have value to the church and they protect you. They advocate on your behalf.
Did you go to the church to report what happened?
Absolutley not. With the first I did.
That first time, did it have an impact on your decision?
Yes. Because I had been shown what happens to you if you go to law enforcement and also what happens to you in the church, you'll be punished. You can't come against a person in good standing.
Who was the first person you told?
Either my mom or my best friend Jordan.
(Photo of two women) Who's in the photo?
My mom.
And you're on the right?
Yes.
If you remember, how close in time to the incident did you have a conversation with your mom?
I thought within almost when I talked to him for the first time, and that's when I talked to her, after that.
When you were speaking to her, did you tell her that he raped you?
No, I didn't use that word. She said, how's it going. I said not good. She said what's going on? I said I had something happen with Danny. And I told her. I don't know if she knew who I meant, so I described this guy in the church, Danny Masterson. And I described it was really bad what happened. It hurt and that he was so rough I had vomited in my mouth and tried to swallow it back so it didn't get on his sheets, and she said oh my god.
Was she a member of Scientology?
No she's not a member anymore, but she kind of got me into it. I think she still had a light belief in it. She didn't want to do it anymore.
So maybe there were still some things she believed in but she was not a member.
Yeah, she was not a fan, she left. She just didn't want me to take medication for anxiety. This was back in high school when she was worried about that.
(Another photo, two women)
(She asks for a break. Says there's some people in the audience she's bothered by.)
Judge Olmedo asks for a short break, jury goes into the jury room. Asks for Anson and support person to go to the witness and ask who is bothering her.
Judge, attorneys go to a sidebar. Defense team goes out to the alcove. Judge asks Anson to go get them.
Holley asks two young women in the third row to go out and talk to the defense team.
Cohen says he's ready to put it on the record.
Judge: Ms. Anson you said there were two women making JD2 uncomfortable.
Cohen: JD2 thought they were from the Sea Org.
Judge: She thought because of their dress and hair style.
Cohen: We've spoken to both women, they are public defenders with the Los Angeles public defender’s office, and they had ID.
Judge; OK, that's on the record. That doesn't necessarily mean they might not be affiliated with Scientology. (So the judge asks both if they are, and they say no. She asks JD2 if she feels better about it.)
Bringing the jury back in.
Anson: Do you recognize is in this photo? Who is on the left?
JD2: Jordan Ladd.
And on the right side is that you?
Yes.
What year was this photo taken?
This was later, after, I think this was in 2005.
How close in time after the incident did you speak with Jordan Ladd?
I thought I talked to her within two weeks of the incident. I don’t have a perfect memory of it. I just think it was pretty closes to when it happened.
Has Jordan Ladd been a member of Scientology?
No. I think she did some of the basic intro courses, or one of them, but she was not a Scientologist.
Was this on the phone?
In person.
What did you tell her?
I don't have a lot of recollection of that conversation, what I do remember, I did say to her that, I didn't use the word rape, but I said this thing happened with Danny, and he came at me like a jackhammer. I don't remember a lot. She was my best friend and, and I don't remember everything I said to her.
In addition to your mom and Jordan Ladd, did you speak to someone else?
Yes, Rachel S.
Who was Rachel to you?
A very close friend. Kind of like a close friend. Jordan was and is my best friend.
Was Rachel a member of Scientology at the time?
Yes, but in a very different way than other Scientologists, there was something, it felt like she didn't feel fringe, she did a lot in terms of going up the Bridge, but she was, she's, there was some way that it, she was the only Scientologist I would feel safe to tell, she has enormous common sense as a human, and so intelligent. A Scientologist can too, but her type of intelligence made me feel safer, like she wouldn't think I'm going to write a KR on you. I knew her as someone who had a pretty high level of self-awareness, and I didn't think she was going to, I just didn't think she was going to put me in danger the way I couldn't have just told just about anyone else in Scientology.
Did you tell her that he had raped you?
No, I didn't.
Do you remember what you disclosed to her?
Very similar to what I had told Jordan. About the jackhammer. It was very very forceful, jarring, painful. I thought I said that. I don't fully remember what I told her but I remember telling that part.
When was that?
I thought I told her months after, but I don't know. I knew it wasn't that long.
Do you know Mariah O'Brien?
Yes.
Who is she to you in 2014?
We were friends.
Was she a Scientologist at that time?
No. I don't know if she ever was, she was very fringe.
What do you mean by fringe?
I mean she didn't have two legs in. She was married to a famous Scientologist and had an extended family though that marriage and still does. And somebody who told me she was Buddhist, she didn't seem to have to commit to it (Scientology) to benefit from it.
Are you and your mom still close today?
Extremely.
Still talk a lot?
Yes.
With Jordan Ladd?
Still my best friend. Always. I mean 25 years.
Since 2003 were there periods when you stopped talking?
Oh yeah. Like sisters. It gets very intense. Sometimes we don't talk for months, sometimes for years.
And you and Rachel, now?
I kind of have that with Rachel as well, though we're not as close. I respect and adore her, but we don't talk all that much. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't.
And Mariah O'Brien?
Absolutely we are not friends.
When did that end?
When I told her that Danny raped me.
When?
In 2014 at her home at dinner with Binki, and Binki's friends of hers.
(Photo of woman) Who is this?
Mariah O'Brien.
Where did that conversation with her take place?
In her home.
And your relationship with her ended?
That's right, right then.
In 2016, were you contacted by [Jane Doe 3]?
Yes. I know it was in the fall.
And how did she contact you?
She DM'd me on the app called Instagram.
(Photo of Jane Doe 3)
Have you ever met her before?
Yes.
Back when I was in the church. Right before, not long before my rape, she was dating and living with Danny for a long time. I would see her at the parties also.
Back in the early 2000s, how would you describe your relationship with her?
So peripheral, so casual. Barely knew her.
When she reached out, did you have a conversation?
Yes. She was a bit cryptic. She said she wanted to talk to me about something that I heard happened to you that happened to me too. And right away... (Obj, overruled)
Judge Olmedo calls for the afternoon break.
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“There isn't enough time to have singular, cogent thoughts, you're just in the middle of something horrible and you're trying to survive it.”
Way to go JD2!
Almost no one to talk to. How sad.