The Mars Volta’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala responds to Danny Masterson guilty verdict: “Fuck Scientology”

nme.com:

The Mars Volta‘s Cedric Bixler-Zavala has issued a response after actor and longtime Scientologist Danny Masterson was found guilty of two counts of rape.Masterson — who was most famed for his role as Steven Hyde in That ’70s Show — was found guilty of two out of the three accusations of rape made against him in a Los Angeles retrial yesterday (May 31).Now, following the verdict, Cedric Bixler-Zavala has spoken out about the disgraced actor and the Church Of Scientology.The musician and At The Drive-In icon left the church back in 2017 after first joining back in 2009.

His wife, Chrissie Carnell-Bixler, had also testified against Masterson back in 2022, and previously issued a separate civil lawsuit against him.According to the civil case, Carnell-Bixler’s relationship with Masterson lasted for several years, and he sexually assaulted her multiple times between the period of 2001 and 2002.Responding to the accusations with The Hollywood Reporter, Masterson issued a statement saying: “I’m not going to fight my ex-girlfriend in the media like she’s been baiting me to do for more than two years.

I will beat her in court – and look forward to it because the public will finally be able [to] learn the truth and see how I’ve been railroaded by this woman.”Following the claim going to court, the judge ultimately ruled that the case brought forward must go through ‘religious arbitration’ within the Church of Scientology.

This is because, when a member of the Church, Carnell-Bixler signed an agreement that requires disputes to be handled by the Church, not the courts.Now, following the guilty verdict on two of the three rape cases filed against him, the Mars Volta musician posted an Instagram post (which has since been deleted)..