LOS ANGELES, CA — His celebrity pals including Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis may be sticking by him despite his rape convictions, but Danny Masterson’s wife is not. Actress Bijou Phillips filed for divorce Monday about two weeks after Masterson was sentenced to prison for three decades in connection with the rapes of two women, TMZ reported Tuesday.
“Ms. Phillips has decided to file for divorce from her husband during this unfortunate time,” her attorney, Peter Lauzon, told TMZ, which was first to report the filing. “Her priority remains with her daughter. This period has been unimaginably hard on the marriage and the family. Mr. Masterson was always present for Ms. Phillips during her most difficult times of her life. Ms. Phillips acknowledges that Mr. Masterson is a wonderful father to their daughter.”
The divorce papers were filed Monday in Santa Barbara, according to “Entertainment Tonight.”
The couple was married in 2011 and had a daughter in 2014.
Phillips, 43, stood by her husband’s side during the lengthy rape case. When Masterson, 47, was convicted in May, Phillips cried out in the courtroom, prompting an admonition from the judge, who asked her to maintain her composure.
She wrote a letter to the judge in support of her husband’s character ahead of the sentencing hearing, saying he “devoted himself to finding other ways to earn a living” after he lost his acting career due to the rape case. She wrote that he moved the family to a farm in Santa Ynez, where he “immediately began to work the land and grow a beautiful vineyard with 6,000 vines, that he tended on his own for six years.”
She wrote that she understands Masterson was “convicted of serious crimes,” saying she and their daughter, whom he called every day from jail, are “heartbroken that he is not home with us.”
The divorce is not the only split linked to the Masterson rape case.
Kutcher, facing criticism for a letter he wrote in support of his “That ’70s Show” castmate, resigned Friday as chairman of the board of an anti-child-sex-abuse organization he co-founded in 2009 with then-wife Demi Moore.
In a letter posted on the website of the organization known as Thorn, Kutcher said his decision to resign came after he and wife Mila Kunis “spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn.”
Kutcher and Kunis — who also starred on “That ’70s Show” — both faced backlash for writing character letters in support of Masterson.
SEE ALSO: Ashton Kutcher Resigns From Anti-Sex-Abuse Group Following Criticism
They were among dozens of people who wrote to Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo in support of Masterson, including fellow “That ’70s Show” co-stars Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith, actor Giovanni Ribisi and Masterson’s brother-in-law, actor Billy Baldwin.
City News Service and Patch staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.
