Woman Claims Danny Masterson Raped Her Twice Despite Setting Boundaries Before Going To His House
An attorney for actor Danny Masterson challenged a woman in court about why she agreed to go to Masterson’s house on the night she claimed the That '70s Show actor raped her.
"You went over to Danny Masterson’s house knowing full well you would be taking your clothes off, right?" his attorney Thomas Mesereau asked the woman on Thursday, May 20. "No," the woman responded firmly.
Mesereau had played a recording where the woman, who is known only as N. Trout, told police that Masterson texted her to come to his house, take her clothes off and get into his hot tub one night in 2003.
The woman said that a few nights after she and Masterson had a few drinks with mutual friends, he began texting her saying she needed to come over. "I didn’t understand why he was commanding," she said regarding the tone of the messages.
"I thought perhaps he was saying it in a way to be aggressive as a form of flirting. I didn’t understand why he was so aggressive," she said.
She explained that she agreed to come over to talk and maybe have a glass of wine after she set conditions and boundaries, which included that she would not put on a swimsuit or get in his pool. The woman said that she was flattered by the attention from Masterson and might be open to kissing.
She said she had one or more drinks to calm herself before she walked to Masterson's home and that he gave her a glass of wine when she arrived.
According to Trout, as soon as he took her to the backyard, he allegedly told her to take her clothes off and get into the hot tub. "Take them off. If you don’t do it, I’m going to do it. Get them off," she claimed he said, and obliged because she didn't want any violence.
"I didn’t want things to escalate. I was giggling, trying to say 'No, I don’t want to,'" she said.
Later, the woman said that part of why she did what the 45-year-old allegedly told her was because he was at a high level in the Church of Scientology, which she was also a member of.
At this point, Trout said — both in her memory and her state of mind at the time — everything got blurry when they got in the hot tub. She claimed that Masterson took her upstairs to the shower, where he raped her, and raped her again on his bed. "I was like, 'Danny what are you doing?' I said 'No,' I told you 'No, you don’t even have a condom on,'" she testified.
"In a prior interview, you said you didn’t remember going up the stairs," Mesereau then challenged. "That was in 2017. This is 2021. Do you remember more now than you did then?"
"I’m sure you’re familiar with the way that trauma works, and when you open it up as I’ve had to do these past four years, pieces of it have become less blurry for me," she responded.
Masterson has denied the allegations against him and pleaded not guilty. Trout was the third accuser to testify at a hearing, which took place to determine if there is enough evidence for the actor to stand trial for three counts of rape.
The hearing is expected to conclude on Friday, May 21, when Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo will decide whether or not to order a trial. Masterson could face up to 45 years behind bars and has been free on bail since he was arrested in June.
