Bijou Phillips, the wife of convicted rapist Danny Masterson, “treats his conviction like a death” and is inconsolable at the prospect of her husband going to prison – leaving her to raise their daughter alone in “catastrophic” circumstances.
A Los Angeles jury found That 70s Show star Danny, 47, guilty of two counts of rape on Wednesday – a verdict that left his 43-year-old wife in tears when it was read in court.
Now a source close to the couple has revealed Bijou’s “devastation” over her husband’s passing, telling DailyMail.com that she was “convinced that he was telling the truth and that the jury would agree.”
“Bijou treats the results of her husband’s trial as a death,” the insider revealed. “The devastation and reality of it all are on a level you could never imagine.”
Bijou Phillips, 43, is pictured leaving the courthouse on May 31, 2023, after her husband Danny Masterson, 47, was convicted of two counts of rape
Bijou’ was convinced [her husband] told the truth and that the jury would agree,” a source told DailyMail.com. The photo shows the couple arriving at court to hear the jury’s verdict
Bijou and Masterson share 8-year-old daughter Fianna
Masterson looked stunned as jurors delivered their unanimous verdicts on two of the three charges before he was handcuffed and taken to jail after being denied bail by the judge.
According to the insider, his wife was equally shocked by the jury’s decision, having “convinced” herself that she would find her husband innocent.
“She has supported Danny throughout this process and never imagined this would be the outcome,” the source continued. “She was convinced he was telling the truth and the jury would agree.”
Masterson now faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted and the couple’s friend commented that Bijou “can’t understand” what her life – and that of their eight-year-old daughter, Fianna – will be like if he puts all these years behind bars are locked.
“Her life has changed completely knowing that her husband and their daughter Fianna’s father could spend the rest of his life in prison,” they said. “For Bijou, it is something that is catastrophic for her current way of life. She doesn’t even understand.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Masterson and Bijou for comment.
The verdicts on Wednesday fell on the eighth day of jury deliberations. Jurors found him guilty of raping victims Jane Doe One and Jane Doe Two.
On Jane Doe Three’s third rape charge, the jury was ‘hopelessly deadlocked’ at eight guilty and four innocent.
The couple started dating in 2004. They embrace in September of that year
The couple married in 2011 in an intimate ceremony at a castle in Ireland
Masterson’s attorney, Philip Cohen, argued that his client should remain free on bail, wear an electronic monitor and be placed on 24-hour house arrest.
But the judge rejected his plea, saying Masterson’s offenses were “serious and violent crimes” and labeling him a “potential flight risk.”
Bijou and Masterson are both Scientologists, and their faith played a big part in the trial – with all three accusers stating they took so long to report the actor to the police, fearing retaliation from the Church of Scientology.
Phillips, an actress and former socialite whose Manhattan antics with the Hilton sisters made tabloid gold, was inconsolable when her husband was taken away in handcuffs – and ordered by the judge to “keep her cool” or leave the courtroom.
The couple’s relationship dates back to 2004 when the pair met at a poker tournament in Las Vegas.
The That 70s Show star proposed to Bijou in 2009, and the couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at an Irish castle in 2011.
Masterson grew up in a family of Scientologists and eventually persuaded Bijou to join the controversial church, which has long been likened to a cult.
The actor’s legal woes date back to 2003, when a woman – also a Scientologist – filed a police report alleging that Masterson raped her the previous year. However, when other Scientologists gave statements that seemed to contradict her story, the case was closed.
Fast-forward to March 2017, when Scientology watchdog The underground bunker reported that the LAPD had reopened their investigation prompted by a second woman who reported Masterson raped her in 2001.
The allegations gained further traction in the public sphere amid the uproar at the start of #MeToo towards the fall of 2017.
In December 2017, Netflix announced that the streaming giant had fired Masterson from The Ranch, a sitcom starring his former That 70s Show castmate Ashton Kutcher.
A month later, United Talent Agency also cut ties with Masterson.
A total of four women came forward alleging that Masterson raped them in the early s – in the years immediately prior to beginning his relationship with Bijou.
In June 2020, the Los Angeles County District Attorney officially charged Masterson with three counts of rape.
In yesterday’s verdict, Masterson was found guilty of all but one charge, and deadlocked on the third.