Current:Home > reviewsDanny Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips files for divorce after his 30-year rape sentence -AssetLink
Danny Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips files for divorce after his 30-year rape sentence
View
Date:2025-04-13 11:13:21
Bijou Phillips Masterson has filed for divorce from husband Danny Masterson over a week after he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women.
Phillips filed a petition to end their 11-year marriage on Monday in Santa Barbara court, according to court documents reviewed by USA TODAY. TMZ was first to report the news.
Phillips cited irreconcilable differences as the reason and listed the date of their separation as "TBD." Her petition, signed Sept. 15, requested spousal support as well as restoration of her name to Bijou Phillips and full legal and physical custody of their daughter, with Masterson receiving child visitation.
The two married October 2011 and share a 9-year-old daughter, Fianna Francis Masterson, together.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Phillips and Masterson for further information.
Phillips stood by Masterson throughout his two trials. She wept when the guilty verdicts were read on May 31 and showed similar emotion at times during his Sept. 7 sentencing hearing, when a judge handed down the maximum sentence allowed by law to the 47-year-old actor. Masterson will be eligible for parole after serving 25½ years but can be held in prison for life.
A jury of seven women and five men had found Masterson guilty of two counts of rape after seven days of deliberations. Both attacks took place in Masterson's Hollywood-area home in 2003 when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox sitcom "That '70s Show." The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a third count, an allegation that Masterson also raped a longtime girlfriend.
Masterson maintains his innocence, and his attorneys have said they plan to appeal, contending there were problems with evidence and constitutional issues with his conviction.
Bijou Phillips called Danny Masterson an 'extraordinary husband' a month before divorce
In the character reference letter she wrote in support of her husband last month before his sentencing, Phillips said Masterson has been "a life-saving partner to me" over the course of 19 years together.
"Danny is an amazing father. Our daughter and I are heartbroken that he is not home with us. It has been very difficult without him here," she wrote. "We need him more than you can imagine. I know he has been convicted of serious crimes. But the man I married has only been an extraordinary husband to me and a devoted father to our daughter."
The letter, addressed to Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo and dated Aug. 14, was among dozens that Masterson's family and friends wrote — made public by The Hollywood Reporter — urging leniency in his sentencing.
Who is Bijou Phillips?
Phillips, daughter of "The Mamas and the Papas" singer-songwriter John Phillips and actor Genevieve Waite, was a model as a teenager and released an album before shifting to acting.
She has appeared in films including "Almost Famous" and television shows including "Raising Hopes" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
Ashton Kutcherresigns from anti-child sex abuse nonprofit after supporting Danny Masterson
Contributing: Associated Press
veryGood! (88189)
Related
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Employer who fired 78-year-old receptionist must now pay her $78,000
- Loss and Damage Meeting Shows Signs of Giving Developing Countries a Bigger Voice and Easier Access to Aid
- Kirstie Alley's estate sale is underway. Expect vintage doors and a Jenny Craig ballgown.
- 'Most Whopper
- Trevor Noah Reacts to Being Labeled Loser Over His Single Status at Age 40
- Kirstie Alley's estate sale is underway. Expect vintage doors and a Jenny Craig ballgown.
- TikToker Isis Navarro Reyes Arrested After Allegedly Selling Misbranded Ozempic
- Vance jokes he’s checking out his future VP plane while overlapping with Harris at Wisconsin airport
- The Lakers fire coach Darvin Ham after just 2 seasons in charge and 1st-round playoff exit
Ranking
- British golfer Charley Hull blames injury, not lack of cigarettes, for poor Olympic start
- Massachusetts woman wins $1 million lottery twice in 10 weeks
- North Carolina bill ordering sheriffs to help immigration agents closer to law with Senate vote
- A Black lawmaker briefly expelled from the Tennessee Statehouse will remain on the 2024 ballot
- Charges: D'Vontaye Mitchell died after being held down for about 9 minutes
- Three groups are suing New Jersey to block an offshore wind farm
- Military documents contradict Republican Rep. Troy Nehls' military record claims
- Massachusetts woman wins $1 million lottery twice in 10 weeks
Recommendation
Vance jokes he’s checking out his future VP plane while overlapping with Harris at Wisconsin airport
Jewel Has Cryptic Message on Love Amid Kevin Costner Dating Rumors
Employer who fired 78-year-old receptionist must now pay her $78,000
In a first, an orangutan is seen using a medicinal plant to treat injury
Illinois Gov. Pritzker calls for sheriff to resign after Sonya Massey shooting
Bryan Kohberger's lawyer claims prosecution has withheld the audio of key video evidence in Idaho murders case
United Methodists remove anti-gay language from their official teachings on societal issues
Nick Viall and Wife Natalie Joy Reveal F--ked Up Hairstylist Walked Out on Wedding Day