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Imagine it's late 2011. The world just found out about Jerry Sandusky, former assistant Penn State football coach who would be convicted of repeatedly raping children in 2012. Penn State higher-ups, in an attempt to turn the focus of the scandal away from the school, decide to turn an annual banquet into a celebration of those fighting child rape. They call up head coach Joe Paterno. They call up President Graham Spanier. They call up athletic director Tim Curley. All of them give long, brave speeches about the evils of sexual exploitation of children resulting in rousing applause from all...

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis — famous for their roles on "That '70s Show" — issued a public apology on social media after it was revealed they wrote letters of support on behalf of Danny Masterson to the judge presiding over the sexual assault trial. Kutcher and Kunis, who have been married since 2015, starred alongside Masterson in the hit sitcom show that ran from 1998 to 2006. On Saturday, the two appeared together in a post shared to social media, claiming to be sorry for issuing statements that apparently caused pain to Masterson's victims.

A judge sentenced That '70s Show star Danny Masterson to 30 years to life in prison Thursday for the rapes of two women two decades ago. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo handed down the sentence to Masterson, 47, after hearing statements from the women about the trauma they experienced and the suffering caused by the disturbing memories in the years since. The actor, who has been in custody since May, sat in court wearing a suit. He watched the women without visible reaction as they spoke. "When you raped me, you stole from me," said one woman...

A Los Angeles jury Wednesday has found "That '70s Show" actor Danny Masterson guilty of two counts of forcible rape. Jurors resumed deliberations Wednesday after a four-day break in the retrial of Masterson, who was charged with raping three women at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003. The jury spent about 6 1/2 days deliberating since being handed the case on May 17 after just over a day of closing arguments from attorneys. Jurors said they were deadlocked on the third rape charge against Masterson.

Actor Danny Masterson has been found guilty of drugging and raping two women at the end of his second trial, after a jury was left impossibly deadlocked in December. The 47-year-old Scientologist looked stunned as jurors delivered their unanimous verdicts on two of the three charges, and he was handcuffed and taken to the cells. Masterson, star of That 70s Show, could get 30 years in prison when he is sentenced: the judge on Wednesday ordered he be held in jail until the next hearing. A group of about 10 Scientology friends and family - including actor Billy Baldwin, who...

Danny Masterson has been found guilty of rape. The jury found the Scientologist actor guilty on two of three rape counts on Wednesday. The jurors were deadlocked on the third count. Masterson - who played smart-mouthed Steven Hyde on That '70s Show - was accused of raping three women at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges and he was looking at a sentence of 45 years to life in prison if he was convicted on all three, plus plus forced registration as a sex offender. Throughout both trials he had...

The jury in the Danny Masterson rape trial told the judge on Friday that it could not reach a verdict. However, Judge Charlaine Olmedo said that the jurors have not deliberated long enough to declare a mistrial. She ordered the jury to resume deliberations on Nov. 28, after taking a week off for Thanksgiving. Masterson, 46, faces charges of forcibly raping three woman at his home in the Hollywood Hills from 2001 to 2003. The charges carry a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. In a note to the judge, the jurors said they are “unable to...

Danny Masterson, former star of the long-running sitcom “That ‘70s Show,” is about to face three women in court who say he raped them two decades ago at a trial whose key figures are all current or former members of the Church of Scientology. Opening statements could begin as early as Tuesday in the Los Angeles trial of the 46-year-old Masterson, and while a judge has expressed her determination not to have the church become the center of the proceedings, it will inevitably loom large. Masterson is charged with raping the women between 2001 and 2003 in his home, which...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson was charged with the rapes of three women in the early 2000s, Los Angeles prosecutors said Wednesday, the culmination of a three-year investigation that resulted in a rare arrest of a famous Hollywood figure in the #MeToo era. The three counts of rape by force or fear against Masterson were filed Tuesday, and an arrest warrant isssued. Masterson, 44, was arrested late Wednesday morning, jail records showed. He was released a few hours later after posting bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 18.

After facing increasing pressure to take some form of action, Netflix has fired The Ranch star Danny Masterson, effective immediately. The actor stands accused of raping four women in the early 2000s; the Los Angeles County District Attorney and Los Angeles Police Department continue to investigate the claims. “As a result of ongoing discussions, Netflix and the producers have written Danny Masterson out of The Ranch,” a Netflix spokesperson tells TVLine. “[Monday] was his last day on the show, and production will resume in early 2018 without him.”... Masterson also serves as an exec producer on The Ranch, although there’s...

One woman, who filed her accusation in 2004 to the Los Angeles Police Department, alleged that Masterson, 41, raped her while she was “passed out.” When she reportedly came to and realized what was happening, she claimed Masterson choked her until she passed out again. Both she and the actor were members of the Church of Scientology. Three other women, also church members, reported their claims directly to the Church of Scientology. The LAPD’s case was squashed at the time, however, after 50 Scientologists wrote affidavits denouncing the woman’s story, the Huffington Post reported.

Actor Danny Masterson (primarily known as Hyde on "That 70s Show") has been convicted of rape. Specifically, he was convicted of raping adult women in his home, women who were in their 20s at the time. And he has now been sentenced for it. Thirty years to life. That's a heck of a sentence. The allegations surfaced in 2017 and 2018. The crimes – the alleged rapes, which he has completely denied - took place between 2001 and 2003. We shouldn’t want to take his side. He's a Scientologist - a particularly offensive cult that has a huge amount of...

A prominent DC lawyer who died earlier this month after traveling on a corporate jet did not pass away from severe turbulence as originally reported. Earlier this month, Dana Hyde, a prominent DC lawyer who served in the Clinton and Obama Administrations was killed while flying over New England in a business jet. The business jet carrying five passengers made an emergency landing at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. ... Hyde, 55, was rushed by ambulance to a hospital in Hartford, Connecticut on Friday where she was pronounced dead. Hyde also served as a lawyer on the 9/11 commission. The...

'You know who I am?': Congressional candidate Martin Hyde threatens cop's career during traffic stop He apologized to Sarasota Police Officer Julia Beskin as he signaled his campaign's collapse. Update: Martin Hyde has since told Fox News he is still running. Sarasota congressional candidate Martin Hyde appears to have ended his campaign against U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan. The move comes after Hyde received national media attention — and scorn — over a police body cam video of his actions at a traffic stop. In a letter published by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Hyde apologized for his behavior. But he also made...

The “Ghost of Kyiv” is a myth, Ukrainian officials admitted over the weekend. After several news outlets last week identified the legendary, mysterious, hero fighter pilot as a 29-year-old dad recently killed in battle with the Russians, military officials acknowledged Saturday that there was no such person. “The ghost of Kyiv is a superhero-legend, whose character was created by Ukrainians!” Ukraine’s Air Force Command wrote on Facebook. The reputed hero had been credited with taking out as many as 40 Russian aircraft until he was shot down March 13 while battling an “overwhelming” number of enemy forces, the Times of...

A Florida congressional candidate apologized to an officer after threatening to ruin their career during a traffic stop. A congressional candidate from the Sarasota area, Martin Hyde issued the apology Wednesday, WFLA reported. The officer’s body camera captured the incident of pulling Hyde over on Valentine’s Day. The video shows the female officer explaining to Hyde that she pulled him over for speeding and texting while driving, WFLA reported. Hyde asked the officer, “You know who I am, right?” and threatened to call the police chief.

I would say it was fun while it lasted but that would imply it even started. When former President Donald Trump gave U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan his “complete and total endorsement” on Monday it effectively eliminated any chance that Martin Hyde’s circus act of a campaign for Florida’s 16th Congressional District would get off the ground. It’s not like Buchanan needed the former President’s endorsement to destroy Hyde’s chances of winning the Republican nomination. Hyde did that to himself the moment he called Trump “wretched” and said he was “horrified” by the “bigotry and bullying” of Trump supporters. He may...

A House committee investigating potential surveillance of former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is struggling to get records and text messages from Robert Hyde, the GOP congressional candidate who claimed to have her under surveillance, according to emails obtained by NBC News. Hyde, in response, is accusing the House Foreign Affairs Committee of “trying to set me up.” The Foreign Affairs Committee announced in mid-January it would investigate text messages that emerged in the impeachment investigation that showed Hyde provided detailed information about Yovanovitch’s purported whereabouts in Kyiv to Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani. Hyde has said...

Joe Biden on Thursday, reversed longstanding opposition to public funding of abortion. The former Vice President, said that his Gala flip-flop, came as GOP-controlled states began phasing out government funded providers, (potentially rendering some species filter services underfunded) — a movement that could strand sub standard human female access to government funded, local *klinics. “I can’t justify leaving millions of women without access to the care they need and the ability to exercise their constitutionally protected right,” Biden, would not support taxpayer funding for abortion if it became more readily available for women in need, particularly women who live in...

Former Vice President Joe Biden reiterated his support for the Hyde Amendment, a measure that creates a barrier to abortion for low income women across the United States.