Danny Masterson’s ex-stepdad accuses siblings of lying about upbringing to help rapist ‘That ’70s Show’ star
Danny Masterson’s former stepdad claims his children lied about their relationships with the “That ’70s Show” star in a bid to help their older sibling when he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for two rapes.
Joe Reaiche said he was appalled when he read his kids Alanna and Jordan Masterson’s letters to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo asking for leniency for their actor brother — in which they described him as the man who practically raised them when their father allegedly walked out on them.
“They make it sound like I walked out and abandoned them, and that Danny was the hero,” Reaiche told the Daily Beast in an article published Sunday. “They were actually making money, and I was giving them money.”
Reaiche, a former star rugby player and scientologist who met Carol Masterson in 1982, disputed his children’s claims that he walked out on them when they were just 6- and 4-years-old, noting that his wife didn’t file for divorce until 1995, meaning Jordan was nine, not six, when they split.
Despite the divorce, Reaiche said he remained close to his children for years, as well as his step-kids, Danny and Christopher Masterson.
“I paid for their summer school at that expensive Scientology school in Oregon, Delphi. That was $5,000 each. And I took them everywhere,” Reaiche claimed, estimating that he spent nearly $300,000 on his two kids between 1995 and 2005.
Reaiche told the outlet he also played a prominent role in helping his kids’ acting careers, as they followed in Masterson’s footsteps following him landing a role on the hit Fox sitcom in 1998.
Alanna would go on to be in AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and Jordan on the sitcom “Last Man Standing.”
During the height of Masterson’s fame on “That ’70s Show,” Reaiche claimed he helped his stepson get a mortgage for his Hollywood home — the very house where the actor would be accused of raping his victims in 2003.
It wasn’t until 2005 that the family completely broke apart following Reaiche’s excommunication from the Church of Scientology, he told the Daily Beast.
After he was booted from the church, the heartbroken dad said he was unable to speak with his kids, who were told he was deemed a “suppressive person” who they should have no contact with — and he hasn’t heard from them since.
By then, Jordan was 19 and Alanna was 17, far from the little kids they described themselves as in their letter to the judge.
“If they had said our parents divorced when we were 9 and 7, that would be one thing. But they say I left like I abandoned them,” he told the Daily Beast. “It’s bulls–t. They perjure themselves.”
Along with praising Masterson as their father figure, Jordan and Alanna also portrayed him as a prominent anti-drug activist.
Masterson, 47, was notably accused of drugging two of his victims to rape them.
The siblings’ letter vouching for Masterson were echoed by his fellow “That ’70s Show” cast members, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith, who all lauded their co-star as a “positive influence.”
All the missives were written with the knowledge that Masterson — who was accused of the violent rapes — would receive between 15 and 30 years behind bars.
The Church of Scientology did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
