Bijou Phillips has filed for divorce from Danny Masterson, lower than two weeks after the That ’70s Show star was sentenced to 30 years to life in jail for rape.
The couple had been collectively for almost 12 years and share a nine-year-old daughter, Fianna.
Phillips, a 43-year-old actor, filed for divorce in Santa Barbara, Calif., Superior Court on Monday, citing “irreconcilable differences.” She is in search of spousal assist and full custody of Fianna whereas Masterson, 47, is given visitation rights.
“Ms. Phillips has decided to file for divorce from her husband during this unfortunate time. Her priority remains with her daughter,” her lawyer Peter A. Lauzon acknowledged. “This period has been unimaginably hard on the marriage and the family.”
Lauzon added that Phillips considers Masterson “a wonderful father to their daughter,” echoing statements Phillips wrote in a letter asking for leniency in Masterson’s sentencing.
“We need him more than you can imagine,” Phillips wrote within the letter that turned public after the sentencing. “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.”
Phillips additional wrote that Masterson “has literally been a life-saving partner to me,” in obvious reference to Masterson’s look after her and their daughter after Phillips had a kidney transplant in 2017.
“Our daughter and I are heartbroken that he is not home with us,” she wrote.
Phillips sat with different Masterson relations in courtroom all through two lengthy trials, the primary of which led to a mistrial, the second of which led to a conviction on two of three rape counts from 2003.
She wept in courtroom when the responsible verdicts have been learn on May 31, and confirmed comparable emotion at occasions throughout his Sept. 7 sentencing listening to, when a decide gave Masterson a jail time period that may require him to be held for 25-and-a-half years earlier than he’s eligible for parole.
A supply advised People that Phillips was shocked that Masterson was discovered responsible.
“She wasn’t prepared for the verdict. She never expected him to be found guilty,” the unnamed insider mentioned. “She couldn’t believe that he was taken into custody right away and remanded.”
Masterson maintains his innocence and his legal professionals have mentioned they plan to enchantment, contending there have been issues with proof and constitutional points together with his conviction.
Masterson was arrested in 2020 after a three-year investigation into claims he sexually assaulted a number of ladies within the early 2000s.
He was convicted of raping two ladies he knew by way of the Church of Scientology in 2003. Both testified that he put medicine of their drinks and violently raped them. Jurors couldn’t attain a unanimous verdict on a 3rd rely alleging he raped a former girlfriend in 2001.
Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace within the Fox sitcom That ’70s Show from 1998 till 2006. Kutcher and Kunis each confronted backlash after it was revealed that they had written letters to the decide in Masterson’s case, asking for leniency in his sentencing. The pair apologized for the letters in a video.
Phillips and Masterson started courting in 2004. They introduced their engagement in 2009 and married in Ireland in 2011.
Phillips is the daughter of The Mamas and the Papas singer-songwriter John Phillips and actor Genevieve Waite. She labored as a mannequin as a youngster and launched an album earlier than shifting into appearing.
She has appeared in movies together with Almost Famous and tv reveals together with Raising Hopes and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
— With information from The Associated Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.