Danny Masterson's Accusers Ask for Permission to Add New Alleged Victim to Civil Lawsuit Against Disgraced Actor and Scientology
Phillips also reportedly quit Scientology when Masterson was declared an SP [suppressive person] after losing his legal battle.
Dec. 28 2023, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
The four women who sued Danny Masterson and the Church of Scientology have filed court papers seeking to add another alleged victim in their legal fight against the disgraced actor.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the four women are asking for permission to amend their complaint to add Ghost Dog actress Tricia Vessey as a plaintiff in the case that accused Scientology of helping to cover up Masterson’s alleged sexual assaults. The church has denied all claims of wrongdoing.
Vessey, who testified as a witness against Masterson in the criminal trial that subsequently convicted him of two counts of rape earlier this year, is expected to re-enforce the women’s claim of sexual abuse and the alleged Scientology harassment campaign the victims endured for speaking out.
He was recently transferred to a maximum security prison.
The women’s attorney, John J. Kucera, argued Vessey should be included in the civil case based on “newly discovered facts” that did not exist when they first filed the lawsuit in 2019.
“To include as a new plaintiff Tricia Vessey, who was victimized by Defendant Masterson and then, when she was identified as an additional victim and testified in Masterson’s criminal trial, was subjected to a campaign of harassment by Defendants like each Plaintiff in the FAC [First Amended Complaint,]” stated the court documents file in Los Angeles Superior Court on December 27, 2023.
“It is in the interests of justice to allow Plaintiffs to bring additional claims arising from Defendants’ course of conduct as alleged in the FAC, many of which were unavailable to Plaintiffs at the time it was filed.”
Kucera also argued Vessey, who was allegedly raped twice by Masterson in 1996, can join the lawsuit because the newly enacted California Sexual Abuse and Cover-up Accountability Act eliminated the statute of limitation.
The defendants have vehemently denied all the allegations of wrongdoing and Scientology has repeatedly called the charges “baseless.”
Never miss a story — sign up for the RadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the civil case dragged on for years and abruptly came to a halt during the criminal trial where the That ‘70s Show star was sentenced to 30 years behind bars.
The accusers claim the allegations, “involve Masterson’s sexual assaults, Plaintiffs’ reporting those assaults to Defendants, and Defendants’ actively endeavoring to prevent Plaintiffs from reporting those assaults to the civil authorities.”
Scientology leader David Miscavige is accused of helping of helping Masterson cover-up his crimes.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
After they reported the crimes to police, they claimed Scientology “reacted by subjecting Plaintiffs to a sustained campaign of extreme harassment.”
Kucera, of the powerhouse law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP which recently snagged a $290 million settlement against JP Morgan Chase Bank for facilitating Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, argued that adding another victim will not interfere with the lawsuit.
“An amendment at this juncture will not prejudice Defendants,” he stated.
Powered by RedCircle
