Danny Masterson has lost the appeal of his rape conviction, meaning his 30-year prison sentence has been upheld.

The actor, best known for his role on That ’70s Show, was convicted in 2023 of two counts of rape against two women in 2003, while a third charge relating to a third plaintiff, who alleged she was raped by Masterson in 2001, was quashed.

Masterson has insisted that sex with all three plaintiffs was consensual. In December he filed an appeal, questioning the plaintiffs’ credibility and claiming he didn’t receive a fair trial as the judge, Los Angeles superior court judge Charlaine F Olmedo, was biased against Scientology .

In an 89-page ruling filed in the California court of appeal on Tuesday, a three-judge panel rejected Masterson’s arguments, finding that Olmedo’s statements during the trial showed “no animus or departure from neutrality regarding Scientology”.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Masterson, a prominent Scientologist, had used his role in the church – of which all three…