Current:Home > StocksDanny Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips files for divorce after his 30-year rape sentence -MoneySpot
Danny Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips files for divorce after his 30-year rape sentence
View
Date:2025-04-13 11:36:47
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! (5175)
Related
- South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
- Colorado legal settlement would raise care and housing standards for trans women inmates
- Break away from the USA? New Hampshire once again says nay
- An armed man found dead at an amusement park researched mass shootings. His plan is still a mystery
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Cigna sells Medicare business to Health Care Services Corp. for $3.7 billion
- Camila Cabello Looks Unrecognizable With New Blonde Hair Transformation
- 'Inflection point': Gov. Ron DeSantis sends Florida National, State Guard to Texas
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Capitol Police close investigation into Senate sex tape: No evidence that a crime was committed
Ranking
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Federal officials issue new guidelines in an effort to pump the brakes on catchy highway signs
- Sports is the leading edge in the fight against racism. Read 29 Black Stories in 29 Days.
- Who freed Flaco? One year later, eagle-owl’s escape from Central Park Zoo remains a mystery
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Arkansas police chief arrested and charged with kidnapping
- Break away from the USA? New Hampshire once again says nay
- Camp Lejeune water contamination tied to range of cancers, CDC study finds
Recommendation
Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
Ex-Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon gets 15-year, show-cause penalty after gambling scandal
Sports is the leading edge in the fight against racism. Read 29 Black Stories in 29 Days.
Warm weather forces park officials to suspend Isle Royale wolf count for first time in decades
McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
Can Taylor Swift make it from Tokyo to watch Travis Kelce at the Super Bowl?
New videos show towers of fire that prompted evacuations after last year’s fiery Ohio derailment
Arkansas police chief arrested and charged with kidnapping