Masterson’s accusers feared being kicked out of Scientology. His stepfather lived it out.
Before he could make his move, his stepfather, Lee Masterson, was dead set against it. He was furious but not afraid. “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” he said.
He was angry because Lee had died soon after learning of his son’s affair with a woman on the church’s Celebrity Centre staff. Masterson wasn’t surprised.
“I could see it had to have been her,” he said.
According to Masterson, Lee had suffered a heart attack shortly after being confronted by one of his former employees, who had been sent to confront him about his son’s affair with her.
One of Masterson’s other stepsons had already been kicked out of the church because he had refused to acknowledge that his dad was suffering a mental breakdown. Masterson had to get the stepson to agree to leave by saying he had committed a sin that Scientology required everyone in the family to confess. The stepson would later tell his story to Dan Kennedy of Vanity Fair.
“Lee is in great shape physically, mentally, and spiritually,” said Masterson’s stepson, Robert.
But Masterson was furious. He wanted his son to tell his father the truth. He didn’t see it as a sin. But he wasn’t going to let his son go through life lying to his father. Lee Masterson needed to know.
“I had to tell him. I’ll tell you that,” Masterson said.
“I couldn’t believe what was happening,” Masterson said. “He was telling me how it’s OK and he can say all that he wants. I said, ‘No, it’s not OK until he’s clean to do it.'”
Then Masterson died. Lee was dead. His mind was gone. His body was dying.
“The very last thing Lee Masterson could have done was try to stop me,” said Robert Masterson