By Mark Gray
3:30am PDT, Sep 14, 2023
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On the heels of learning her husband's fate following two rape convictions, Bijou Phillips is almost unrecognizable to friends.
The "Raising Hope" actress is trying to remain strong while knowing that her husband, "The '70s Show" star Danny Masterson, will serve 30 years behind bars.
In May 2023, the actor was convicted on two of three counts of rape stemming from assaults that occurred in 2003 at his Los Angeles home. He was then immediately taken into custody. As he comes to terms with what the next three decades of his life will look like — he was sentenced on Sept. 7, 2023 — Bijou is "a shell" of her former self, a friend revealed.
Keeping reading to learn how Bijou's life has been affected post-verdict and how the church of Scientology played a role in the case…
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Danny Masterson, who married Bijou Phillips in 2011, was first arrested in 2020 and charged with three counts of rape for incidents that allegedly occurred between 2001 and 2003 during the height of his "That '70s Show" fame. He's maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty. In late 2022, his sexual assault trial ended in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury. A new trial concluded in May 2023: A jury found him guilty on two of the three rape counts he was facing; the jury was deadlocked on the third.
The three women involved in the case were members of the Church of Scientology — as was Danny. Prosecutors alleged that he used his influence within the church to avoid consequences for the attacks. In trial, the women said they reported the instances to church leaders and were told they weren't raped.
"They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against," Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told jurors at the trial, according to USA Today. "Scientology told them there's no justice for them."
On Sept. 7, 2023, Danny was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
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Things are suddenly very real for Bijou Phillips. She'll now have to prepare for life without her husband, Danny Masterson, being around for either her or their 9-year-old daughter, Fianna. According to a pal, she's approaching this new phase of her life as if there was a death in the family.
"Currently Bijou is circling the drain and is filled with all the emotion and no emotion at all," a source told DailyMail.com. "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."
"They had their life, and it has been completely uprooted and changed and change is as scary and miserable as one would imagine. Friends are trying to be there for her, but things are really tough. She's really trying to figure it all out and what her life will be after all things are said and done," the source continued, adding that "whatever happens with Danny will change her life forever and, in a not so dignified word, it just sucks."
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Bijou Phillips never thought it would come to this: Before her husband, Danny Masterson, was convicted of rape, she assumed a jury would side with the actor. The former socialite was "convinced he was telling the truth and that the jury would agree," a friend said.
"The devastation and reality of it all are at a level that you'd never even imagine," an insider told DailyMail.com. "She's had Danny's back through this whole process and never thought this would be the result. Her life has completely changed knowing that her husband and the father of their daughter Fianna may be in jail for the rest of his life. It is to Bijou something that is catastrophic to her current way of life. She can't even make sense of it."
After Danny was convicted in May 2023, Bijou was caught on camera leaving the courthouse in tears.
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In a pre-sentencing support letter to Judge Charlaine Olmedo — who ultimately sentenced Danny Masterson to the maximum two consecutive 15-year terms for two rapes — the actor's wife, Bijou Phillips, told a judge she and their daughter, Fianna, are devastated over his convictions.
"Our daughter and I are heartbroken that he is not home with us," she wrote, as reported by the New York Post. "It has been very difficult without him here. Even though he is now in jail, he calls her every day. He helps her with homework every night. He teaches her math with kindness and patience."
Bijou also told the judge, "I can say that Danny has literally been a life-saving partner to me. After he lost his show and acting career, he devoted himself to finding other ways to earn a living. He took classes to learn about growing grapes, wines and he became a sommelier. He also studied the business end of it," she shared, explaining how he developed a farm and vineyard.
Bijou said that Danny was opposed to drugs and "never smoked a joint in his life."
Bijou also asked the judge to take their family's circumstances into account when sentencing Danny. "We need him more than you can imagine," she wrote. "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."
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Danny Masterson and Bijou Phillips, who are both Scientologists, met in 2004 at a celebrity poker game. In 2011 — after seven years of dating — they tied the knot in Ireland. Wedding guests included actors Ben Foster, Michael Peña and Ethan Suplee, who have all been linked to Scientology.
Now that her marriage has taken a turn due to Danny's prison sentencing, a pal tells DailyMail.com that it "feels like [Bijou] is grieving a death."
