Current:Home > MarketsDanny Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips files for divorce after his 30-year rape sentence -GlobalTrade
Danny Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips files for divorce after his 30-year rape sentence
View
Date:2025-04-14 13:44:04
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! (76)
Related
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- Washington state wildfire leaves at least one dead, 185 structures destroyed
- Chikungunya virus surges in South America. But a new discovery could help outfox it
- England vs. Spain: Time, odds, how to watch and live stream 2023 World Cup final
- All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
- South Dakota Democratic Party ousts state chair who was accused of creating hostile work environment
- Patriots-Packers preseason game suspended after rookie Isaiah Bolden gets carted off
- Firefighters curb blazes threatening 2 cities in western Canada but are ‘not out of the woods yet’
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- 37 Cheap Finds That Will Make Your Outfit Look Expensive
Ranking
- South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
- Philadelphia mall evacuated after smash-and-grab jewelry store robbery by 4 using pepper spray
- Linebacker Myles Jack retires before having played regular-season game for Eagles, per report
- Group of Lizzo's dancers release statement defending singer amid lawsuit
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- As college football season arrives, schools pay monitors to stop players and staff from gambling
- Proud Boys member and Jan. 6 defendant is now FBI fugitive after missing sentencing
- Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., son of Crimson Tide star who played for Nick Saban, commits to Alabama
Recommendation
B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami face Nashville SC in Leagues Cup final: How to stream
Ted Lasso Star Cristo Fernández's Game Day Hosting Guide Will Have Your Guests Cheering for More
Live Updates: Women’s World Cup final underway in expected close match between England and Spain
Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
Netflix extra DVD offer ahead of service shutdown confuses some customers
US, Japan and Australia plan joint navy drills in disputed South China Sea, Philippine officials say
House fire kills 2 children in North Carolina, and a third is critically injured