On Friday, The Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Zavala and his wife, Chrissie Carnell-Bixler, slammed new Linkin Park singer Emily Armstrong, again questioning her ties to convicted rapist Danny Masterson and the Church of Scientology. Armstrong responded with a vague statement saying she once considered Masterson “a friend” and attended one of his early court hearings as an “observer,” but ultimately “misjudged” him.
Armstrong did not mention the disgraced actress by name or clarify her status in the Church of Scientology. In a pair of statements, Bixler-Zavala and Carnell-Bixler (one of three women Masterson was accused of raping) criticized Armstrong for not speaking out against Scientology. They also criticized Linkin Park for not doing due diligence before hiring her.
“If you are not going to speak out against the human and child trafficking cult you are a part of, [sic] “If you do something you don’t know about and enable by staying silent on crimes you know about, then you have no right to take the place of Chester Bennington, a true advocate,” Carnell-Bixler wrote on her Instagram story. “I don’t give a f*** that you are super close to the serial rapist. I don’t give a f*** that you lied on your ‘apology’ Instagram story. I do care that you participated, after being asked to, in the cruel bullying of Jane Doe 1 with your cult friends in court.”
Carnell-Bixler continued: “I am concerned that you have not once mentioned that you are a member of a child and human trafficking cult that covers up the abuse and rape of CHILDREN and adults. I am concerned that your parents work for the Scientology cult’s OSA (Office of Special Affairs) who have been ordering attacks against me and my family, including the murder of my dogs in the most inhumane and evil ways. I am concerned that they have been attacking and harassing my surviving sisters. You don’t speak out against Scientology not because you are afraid of them. You don’t speak out because you are one of them. Shame on Linkin Park. Fuck you.”
Bixler-Zavala shared his wife’s statement and added more context to the Church’s harassment of Masterson’s accusers. He also went a step further by addressing Linkin Park directly: “You should fire your entire team for not thoroughly investigating your choice. You’re a Disney-level brand trying to get back into the spotlight and you didn’t think to spend a little money investigating her? Stop playing drive-in music on your pre-show playlist.”
Prior to Masterson's trial, Carnell-Bixler was among four women who filed a harassment lawsuit against the actor and the Church of Scientology, alleging the women had been “mercilessly harassed” by the Church after going to police.
Masterson was found guilty of forcible rape against two women at his May 2023 rape retrial, but the jury deadlocked on the Carnell-Bixler charge with an 8-4 vote in favor of conviction.
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