Bijou Phillips Files For Divorce From Danny Masterson Following Rape Conviction

Actress and model Bijou Phillips has filed for divorce from actor Danny Masterson. The divorce comes following Masterson’s conviction on three counts of rape and sexual assault, resulting in a 30 years to life prison sentencing.

Philips filed in a California court citing “irreconcilable differences.” Her attorney Peter A. Lauzon told TMZ  “Ms. Phillips has decided to file for divorce from her husband during this unfortunate time. Her priority remains with her daughter.”

Masterson and Phillips married in 2011. The couple share one child together.  The model previously supported her husband throughout the trial. The judge who delivered Masterson’s sentencing additionally received letters from two of the actor’s costars from “That 70s Show” asking for leniency.

Actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher notoriously wrote letters of support defending Masterson’s character. The letters were first obtained by journalist Meghann Cuniff. In the letters, Kutcher wrote “I do not believe he is an ongoing harm to society and having his daughter raised without a present father would [be] a tertiary injustice in and of itself.”

Kunis additionally referenced the disgraced actor’s “exceptional character.” The actors defense of a convicted rapist attracted mass backlash, due to Kutcher’s previous position on the board of Thorn, an anti-sex trafficking organization. The ensuing controversy caused the couple to part ways with the advocacy organization.

Masterson’s Mastermind Of Crime

The rapes took place between 2001 and 2003, at the height of Masterson’s fame on “That 70’s Show.”

The actor was convicted of the three instances that took place between 2000 and 2003. One woman was Masterson’s ex girlfriend Chrissie Bixler. The actor declined to deliver a statement before the jury, but the three survivors made their cases.

One woman, identified as Jane Doe #2, stated “When you raped me, you stole from me. That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit. You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent. The world is better off with you in prison.”

The first survivor, identified as Jane Doe #1, expressed regret at not reporting her rape to the authorities sooner. “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with,” she said. “I am so sorry, and I’m so upset. I wish I’d reported him sooner to the police.”

The third woman, Masterson’s ex girlfriend, claimed that the rape left her “viewing my body as a crime scene my entire life.”

In the decades since the crimes, Masterson married Phillips. The actress previously defended her husband, claiming that the allegations were false. One of the survivors, a second generation Scientologist, claimed that she was ex-communicated by her own mother for speaking out against Masterson, a fellow Scientologist. According to Rolling Stone, the church continues to deny any rules preventing members of reporting one another to the police for criminal activity.

Phillips is yet to issue a further statement regarding the divorce.

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