Actor Bijou Phillips Files For Divorce From Danny Masterson After Rape Convictions
(LOS ANGELES) – Bijou Phillips has filed for divorce from Danny Masterson, just days after the former “That ’70s Show” star was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rape charges on two separate occasions.
According to the court’s website, Phillips, a 43-year-old actress, filed a petition in Santa Barbara Superior Court on Monday to break her nearly 12-year marriage to Masterson, 47. The couple has a daughter who is nine years old. There were no other details available at the time.
Phillips’ attorney did not answer queries, and a spokesman for Masterson declined to comment. Masterson maintains his innocence, and his attorneys have stated that they intend to appeal, claiming that his conviction was flawed by evidence and violated his constitutional rights.
Phillips sat in court with other Masterson family members during two lengthy trials, the first of which resulted in a mistrial and the second in a conviction on two of three rape counts from 2003.
She sobbed in court as the guilty verdicts were read on May 31, and she displayed similar emotion during his Sept. 7 sentencing hearing when a judge sentenced Masterson to 25 1/2 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Phillips lauded Masterson as a husband and parent in a letter to the judge before his punishment.
“I can literally say that Danny has been a life-saving partner to me,” Phillips wrote, referring to Masterson’s care for her and their daughter following Phillips’ kidney transplant in 2017.
Bijou Phillips has filed for divorce from Danny Masterson, just days after he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rape charges on two separate occasions.
The letter, which was highly censored before becoming public after the conviction, stated that she and Masterson purchased a farm in rural Santa Barbara County that he converted into a winery after the police probe resulted in his loss of all acting jobs.
Phillips referred to him as an “amazing father” and stated, “Our daughter and I are heartbroken that he is not home with us.”
Phillips, the daughter of “The Mamas and the Papas” singer-songwriter John Phillips and performer Genevieve Waite, began her career as a model and then produced an album of her singing before transitioning to acting. She has acted in films such as “Almost Famous” as well as television shows such as “Raising Hopes” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
In 2004, she began dating Masterson. 2009, they announced their engagement, and in 2011, they married in Ireland.
From 1998 through 2006, Masterson co-starred in the Fox vintage sitcom “That ’70s Show” with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Topher Grace. In 2017, Los Angeles police began investigating him for sexual assault, and he was arrested in 2020. After their letters to the judge requesting mercy for Masterson became public and sparked controversy, Kutcher and Kunis apologized.
In 2003, he was found guilty of raping two women he knew through the Church of Scientology. Both testified that he put narcotics in their drinks and raped them forcefully. On a third accusation charging he raped a previous lover in 2001, jurors could not reach a unanimous conviction.
SOURCE – (AP)
