Current:Home > NewsDanny Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips files for divorce after his 30-year rape sentence -Mastery Money Tools
Danny Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips files for divorce after his 30-year rape sentence
View
Date:2025-04-19 17:49:18
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! (995)
Related
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- 375-pound loggerhead sea turtle returns to Atlantic Ocean after 3 months of rehab in Florida
- Idris Elba meets with King Charles III to discuss UK youth violence: See photos
- 10 billion passwords have been leaked on a hacker site. Are you at risk?
- Police remove gator from pool in North Carolina town: Watch video of 'arrest'
- Mississippi must move quickly on a court-ordered redistricting, say voting rights attorneys
- Over 2,400 patients may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis infections at Oregon hospitals
- Harrison Butker Reacts to Serena Williams' Dig at 2024 ESPYs
- Matt Damon remembers pal Robin Williams: 'He was a very deep, deep river'
- A US judge is reining in the use of strip searches amid a police scandal in Louisiana’s capital city
Ranking
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Video shows Coast Guard rescue blind hiker, guide dog stranded for days on Oregon trail
- Horoscopes Today, July 12, 2024
- Horoscopes Today, July 12, 2024
- American news website Axios laying off dozens of employees
- Judge considers Alec Baldwin's request to dismiss 'Rust' case over 'concealed' evidence
- Landslide in Nepal sweeps 2 buses into monsoon-swollen river, leaving 51 people missing
- Appeals court makes it harder to disqualify absentee ballots in battleground Wisconsin
Recommendation
What polling shows about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ new running mate
Smoking laptop in passenger’s bag prompts evacuation on American Airlines flight in San Francisco
Heavy rains leave at least 200 crocodiles crawling around cities in Mexico near Texas, increasing risk for the population
Pastors see a wariness among Black men to talk abortion politics as Biden works to shore up base
Connie Chiume, South African 'Black Panther' actress, dies at 72
Map shows all the stores slated to be sold in Kroger-Albertsons merger
Why Gilmore Girls' Keiko Agena Has Always Been Team Jess in Rory's Best Boyfriend Debate
Judge throws out Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case, says he flouted process with lack of transparency