Linkin Park's Singer Emily Armstrong Addresses Danny Masterson Support
Originally appeared on E! Online
Emily Armstrong is walking back her previous support.
The recently-announced lead singer of Linkin Park addressed her prior support of Danny Masterson during the preliminary hearings ahead of the That 70s Show alum’s 2020 rape trial.
“Hi, I’m Emily,” she wrote on social media Sept. 6, per Billboard. “I’m new to so many of you, and I wanted to clear the air about something that happened a while back. Several years ago, I was asked to support someone I considered a friend at a court appearance, and went to one early hearing as an observer. Soon after, I realized I shouldn’t have.”
She continued, “I always try to see the good in people, and I misjudged him. I have never spoken with him since. Unimaginable details emerged and he was later found guilty. To say it as clearly as possible: I do not condone abuse or violence against women, and I empathize with the victims of these crimes.”
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Armstrong’s explanation comes after Linkin Park, which went on hiatus when lead singer Chester Benington died in 2017, announced it would be returning with a new vocalist. Upon learning it was Armstrong who would be touring with the group, many online spoke out. Chief among the critics was Mars Volta singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and his wife Chrissie Carnell-Bixler, the latter of whom has self-identified as one of the women to accuse Masterson of sexual assault.
Bixler-Zavala recirculated screenshots of comments he wrote on Armstrong’s former band Dead Sara’s Instagram page last year, in which also called out Armstrong’s alleged ties to the Church of Scientology, which Masterson is a member of. (Both Bixler-Zavala and his wife also once belonged to the church. The couple have alleged the church harassed them following their allegations against Masterson.)
“Do your fans know about your friend Danny Masterson? Your rapist friend,” Bixler-Zavala wrote in the comment, per Billboard. “Remember how your fellow scientologist goon squad surrounded one of the Jane Doe’s when she was trying to leave the elevators?”
E! News has reached out to the Church of Scientology for comment as well as reps for Linkin Park but has not yet heard back.
In Sept. 2023, Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison after being found guilty of raping two women between 2001 and 2003 at his Hollywood Hills home, with the jury unable to reach a verdict on a third count alleging he raped a former girlfriend, per NBC News.
After the sentencing, Shawn Holley, one of Masterson's attorneys, said in a statement to E! News that "a team of the top appellate lawyers in the country has been reviewing the transcripts of the trial" and "have identified a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues which they will address in briefs to both state and federal appellate courts."
Holley said that Masterson "did not commit the crimes for which he has been convicted and we—and the appellate lawyers—the best and the brightest in the country—are confident that these convictions will be overturned."
But Armstrong is not the only celebrity to backtrack after once supporting Masterson.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis—who starred in That 70s Show alongside Masterson—were among those who wrote character letters to a judge after Masterson’s conviction and ahead of his sentencing.
But amid a subsequent online storm of backlash after their letters were made public, the now-married couple apologized for their actions. They clarified Masterson’s family reached out to them and asked them to "write character letters to represent the person that we knew for 25 years so that the judge could take that into full consideration, relative to the sentencing."
"We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson," Kutcher said in the clip, while Kunis, sitting beside him, then added, "We support victims. We have done this historically through our work and will continue to do so in the future."
Kunis continued, "Our heart goes out to every single person who's ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse or rape," then stopped the recording.
For free, confidential help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit rainn.org.
