The Mars Volta’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala Comments On Danny Masterson’s 30 Years To Life Sentence For Rape
On Thursday, former That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. The actor was convicted in May on two counts of rape (out of three total). Cedric Bixler-Zavala from the Mars Volta is actually married to Chrissie Carnell-Bixler, who was one of Masterson’s accusers. Chrissie Carnell-Bixler did not receive a guilty verdict in her charge, but Bixler-Zavala has been a vocal supporter of his wife as Masterson’s trial and conviction has played out.
Posting a Reel to Instagram, Bixler-Zavala captioned: “This is an appreciation post for the people who helped put Danny Masterson away for rape. Thank you for being as fearless as my wife and her sister survivors. Thank you for never wavering in your pursuit of justice. Yesterday was a heavy day. My sister texted me a quote for @chrissiebixler to read right after the sentencing hit the news. ‘Échame tierra y veras como florezco'” – Frida Kahlo” (Translated, the quote means “Give me dirt and see how I bloom.”)
A list of names and organizations, including Judge Charlene Olmedo, DDA Reinhold Mueller, Mike Rinder, and Leah Remini, showed up in the Reel itself. Judge Charlene Olmedo presided over the trial, and Mike Rinder and Leah Remini are both former Church Of Scientology members. (Masterson is a longtime Scientologist.)
Back in May, Bixler-Zavala — who is also a former Scientology member, having left in 2017 — wrote, “I’ll be making a list of all Danny’s helpers and rape apologists to show all of you why women don’t report rape.” He added, “We fucking told you. God bless the women that stood up to him and his shitty fucking family. Fuck Scientology. Rot in jail Danny. God bless my wife. True fucking warrior.”
Bixler-Zavala also shared a video from a YouTube channel Growing Up In Scientology. In a clip hosted by Aaron Smith Levin, Levin describes an alleged behind-the-scenes moment where Masterson’s That ’70s Show costar Ashton Kutcher (who wrote a letter of support for Masterson, as did his wife and former costar Mila Kunis) was forced to fire Masterson from the set of Netflix’s The Ranch. After Masterson’s rape accusers went public, and Netflix asked Kutcher to let Masterson go from The Ranch, Kutcher reportedly said, “That crazy fucking bitch,” in reference to the Jane Doe accusers.
Carnell-Bixler also posted to her Instagram stories, calling out Kutcher and Kunis for writing those letters of support for Masterson to the judge.
“Dear Ashton, I know the secrets your ‘role model’ keeps for you,” Carnell-Bixler wrote on September 8. “Ones that would end you,” she wrote in the post. “Did you forget I was there? You were on speaker phone that night you called Danny on February 21, 2001. I heard everything. I heard the plan. In my opinion, you’re just as sick as your ‘mentor.'”
To Kunis, Carnell-Bixler wrote: “Dear Mila, I pray you begin to process what you experienced as a child on that set. Your old interviews are very telling (I encourage everyone to watch them and decide for yourself what you hear and see. Do so before they get scrubbed from the internet) I also know what happened in Toronto and after.”
She added: “Question, if that’s what you view as a normal relationship with a ‘big brother figure’ then I feel sad for you, and I hope you consider getting into therapy. You all must forgot I was there the whole time those first 5 years of That 70’s Show. I remember everything.”
On Saturday, Kutcher and Kunis responded to the backlash around their character letters for Masterson. Bixler-Zavala shared the couple’s video, captioning it “Horse Shit of of the highest order.” Here’s the damage-control statement(s) Kutcher and Kunis recite in their video:
“We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson,” Kutcher starts. “We support victims. We have done this historically through our work and will continue to do so in the future,” adds Kunis.
Kutcher goes on to explain how Masterson’s family reached out to him and Kunis to write character letters to “represent the person that we knew for 25 years.” Kunis continues: “The letters were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system, or the validity of the jury’s ruling.”
“They were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or re-traumatize them in any way,” Kutcher says. “We would never want to do that. And we’re sorry, that has taken place.”
The video ends with Kunis saying: “Our heart goes out to every single person who’s ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or rape.”