Her face obscured by sunglasses, Bijou Phillips reportedly broke down in tears Thursday as her husband Danny Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life for the rapes of two women two decades ago.
Earlier, the actress and former socialite tried to remained stoic as one of her husband’s victims angrily addressed him in the Los Angeles courtroom, the Daily Mail, Entertainment Tonight and Los Angeles Times reported. The woman, whom Masterson was convicted of raping in 2003, said: “When you raped me, you stole from me. That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit.”
The woman also told the “That ’70s Show” star: “You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent. The world is better off with you in prison.”
By all accounts, Phillips is devastated that her 47-year-old husband will spend the rest of his life in prison. That is, unless he manages to make parole in his 70s.
Prior to Masterson’s sentencing, a source close to Phillips, the daughter of The Mamas & The Papas singer John Phillips, told the Daily Mail that she had been preparing to grieve for the life she thought she had when she and Masterson were considered a Hollywood power couple. She is also trying to remain strong for their 9-year-old daughter.
“Currently Bijou is circling the drain and is filled with all the emotion and no emotion at all,” the source said. “She is a shell of who she has been. She is really trying to be strong for her daughter as she is trying to figure out life and what it will be like for her.”
“It can only be compared to a divorce or a death for her not being able to be with Danny the way they were,” the source also said.
What’s not known is whether Phillips, 43, continues to believe that Masterson is innocent, or whether she has come to terms with the idea that he’s not the man she thought he was when they married in 2011. When Masterson was convicted in May on two of three counts of rape, Phillips let out a wail as the jury’s verdict was read by Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo, Entertainment Tonight said. The reaction prompted the judge to reprimand the actress, telling her to keep her composure or leave the courtroom.
Upon his conviction, Masterson, who had been free on $3.3 million bail, was taken into custody, pending his sentencing Thursday. Sources told the Daily Mail that the verdict left Phillips stunned because she was “convinced (Masterson) was telling the truth” when he denied raping anyone. His defense team argued that Masterson’s sexual encounters with the three alleged victims were consensual. They also attempted to discredit the women’s stories by highlighting changes and inconsistencies over time, which they said showed signs of coordination between them.
Phillips was convinced “that the jury would agree” with her husband’s attorneys, the source said. “She’s had Danny’s back through this whole process,” which included an earlier trial, which ended in a hung jury, the source also said. “She never thought this would be the result.”
The jury of seven women and five men didn’t buy that two of the encounters were consensual. These incidents took place in Masterson’s Hollywood-area home in the early 2000s, when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox network sitcom “That ’70s Show.” Both trials also focused on the Church of Scientology’s alleged attempts to shield Masterson, one of its celebrity members, from prosecution. The alleged victims are former Scientologists.
Philips, who also is a Scientologist, began dating Masterson in 2004 and they married in 2011. If she continues to stand by her husband, it would be in keeping with her pattern of defending men close to her who have been accused of sexual abuse. In 2009. Phillips acknowledged that her older half-sister Mackenzie Phillips told her that she had a long-term consensual sexual relationship with their father John Phillips, Us Weekly reported.
In a statement, Phillips said the revelations about her father were “confusing and scary” and she didn’t know what to believe because “the life I had with my father was very different. He was Mr. Mom, encouraging and loving.”
Now, Philips is dealing with having a husband who evidently was “very different” around his alleged victims. “She is living with the devastation and reality of it all,”
which are “at a level that you’d never even imagine,” the source told the Daily Mail.
On Thursday, Masterson’s attorney, Shawn Holley, argued for leniency, saying, “It’s his life that will be impacted by what you decide today. And the life of his 9-year-old daughter, who means the world to him, and to whom he means the world.”
“He has lived an exemplary life, he has been an extraordinary father, husband, brother, son, co-worker and community servant,” Holley also said.
But the judge wasn’t moved by such entreaties and said to Phillips’ husband: “Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s choice and voice. Your actions 20 years ago today were criminal, and that’s why you are here.”
