What do Danny Masterson, Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer have in common? If you guessed “White Man Syndrome”, better known as sexually assaulted women and then tried to get away with it, you’d get top billing. Their PR teams are doing them no favours.
The MeToo Movement has given women (and men) their voices back. White man syndrome has been hanging around like a foul odour that wouldn’t disappear for years. Now, victims can speak freely about their experiences without fear.
A Ripple Effect – Danny Masterson
When one woman talks, many others are encouraged to speak out, causing a ripple effect for other victims to open up. White Man Syndrome isn’t something that should be feared or frowned upon. Not all Caucasian men are this way, just the ones who become convinced money, fame and their “religion” will keep everything down low.
In the case of Danny Masterson, as an example, he hid behind Scientology, a “religion” that has long been associated with the likes of Tom Cruise, the late Kirsty Alley and John Travolta and has been classified by many as a cult.
He also used his so-called “star power” to keep himself out of the headlines. However, he wasn’t that big of a star. Why? Because he appeared in many bit parts even after his stint on That’s 70s Show ended. He later starred in a Netflix series called The Ranch with longtime friend and co-star Ashton Kutcher, beginning in 2016. The series ended in 2020. Other That 70s Show actors also appeared throughout the 80-episode run.
When he was sentenced to 30 years for raping two women, his wife, Bijou Philips, burst into tears. Former Scientologist Aaron Smith-Levin told Andy Signore on Popcorned Planet that it is a miracle that Ashton and his wife, Mila Kunis, didn’t get involved in the “religion” despite their circle of friends mostly being part of the organisation. He even said that Kutcher has his skeletons that he doesn’t want to get out, so he and Kunis put out that weird apology video that didn’t go over too well with the public.
An Almost Victim Comes Forward With A Horrifying Danny Story
Andy Signore of Popcorned Planet found a TikTok video by Dr Kelly Dunn, who had had a run-in with Masterson and Phillips in 2005 with a friend.
Before we continue, this is all speculation on Andy’s part. We’re just reporting on what he found.
In 2005, Kelly and a friend were in Hollywood, and they went to Danny’s house to play poker. Her friend started getting doozy, like she’d been drugged or gotten super drunk. The friend excused herself to the bathroom, and Danny followed.
Bijou started screaming her head off, and Kelly and her friend got out of there and had to wait for a taxi. They even heard the couple leave the house, where Bijou started yelling at Danny. At the time, Kelly had no idea what was going on. However, with the sentencing and the court case, she realises that there is more to what occurred that night than she realised.
Could Danny have drugged Kelly’s friend and then done something to her? Quite possibly.
PR Is Limited
There hasn’t been a lot of coverage of the aftermath of Danny’s sentencing. It’s like the Masterson PR train knows there’s no more track to use.
All The Women Are Liars! – Harvey Weinstein
If you’ve been following Project Fangirl for a while, you’ll know we casually followed the Harvey Weinstein trial. When the New York Times piece dropped in 2017, the PR on the story was non-stop grisly for the embattled producer as women were coming out of the woodwork.
Of all the men we’re talking about in this post, Weinstein is the epitome of white man syndrome. Like with Danny, Harvey claimed he did nothing wrong. Again, this is typical sexual predator behaviour. However, the difference here is that Weinstein didn’t drug anyone.
Harvey had his female lawyer, Donna Rotunno, a renowned men’s rights lawyer, say that every woman who accused him of assaulting them was lying. She said, “I would never put myself in that situation.”
We’ve always had a thought process where we’re wary of a single person saying they were attacked as we don’t know if they’re doing it for attention. However, it is not a one-size-fits-all scenario. Some people might be the only victims of a person who do tell the truth. However, it all depends on whether the stories remain consistent.
Harvey Weinstein’s life fell apart the second all those women jumped together to expose who he was and that it wasn’t a secret within Hollywood as many people knew about it and either tried to expose it or ignored it, hoping it would go away.
There have been journalists who have tried to expose Weinstein in the past, but they were silenced with lawsuits or threats of blackballing if the stories were published. Whatever Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey did to stop their account from being shut down worked. They had tight evidence, and sources backed up with plenty of facts, and they had the backing of their editor.
Matt Lauer – Downward Spiral
Matt Lauer was a beloved journalist in the US for a long time. He remained a fixture at NBC for over 20 years until he was fired in 2017 for sexual misconduct after a detailed report from his colleague came out, saying he had harassed her during the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. According to investigative journalist Ronan Farrow, who mentioned in his book Catch and Kill, NBC was aware of Lauer’s misconduct.
Also, Farrow revealed in his book that Lauer employed the same tactics Weinstein did to cover up his crimes.
After Matt’s firing, multiple women came forward to say they had been victims of Lauer.
