LOS ANGELES (AP) – A lawyer for actor Danny Masterson of “That 70’s Show” pleaded guilty Wednesday to raping three women in the early 2000s.
Defense attorney Tom Mesereau filed a lawsuit against Masterson, who was not present in court, on three counts of rape by force or fear in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The frequently delayed hearing coincided with the inauguration in Washington of President-elect Joe Biden, which resulted in much less media attention than Masterson’s initial appearance in June. Since then, his accusations have been postponed several times.
Prosecutors alleged that Masterson, 44, who had been free since his arrest on June 17, raped a 23-year-old woman sometime in 2001, a 28-year-old woman in April 2003 and a 23-year-old. old between October and December 2003. All the alleged rapes happened at her Hollywood Hills home.
Masterson could receive up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Mesereau, among his former clients, were Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby, claimed in court in June that the charges were the result of an unfair hype from the media and political pressure to prosecute his client. The lawyer said his team would prove Masterson not guilty.
Masterson’s arrest came after a three-year investigation that resulted in the rare prosecution of a famous Hollywood figure in the #MeToo era. Despite dozens of investigations, most have not brought any charges for lack of evidence or for having spent too much time since the alleged sexual assaults.
The alleged rapes occurred at the height of Masterson’s fame when he starred as Steven Hyde in the Fox TV retro sitcom “That ’70s Show” from 1998 to 2006 alongside Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace. .