When allegations of rape against Danny Masterson cost him his TV show and Hollywood career in 2017, he bought land in the Santa Ynez Valley (setting for the movie “Sideways”) and started a vineyard, toiling “long days on the land” to make it a profitable venture, his wife Bijou Phillips said.
Phillips, the “Almost Famous” and horror film actress who has been married to Masterson since 2011, made the disclosure in a letter to Judge Charlaine Olmedo, one of many that was included in a defense memorandum asking for sentencing leniency.
Despite heartfelt pleas from Masterson’s “That ’70s Show” castmates Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and others, Olmedo sentenced Masterson to the maximum 30 years to life in prison on Thursday.
Parts of the letters obtained by TheWrap were redacted, including entire passages from Phillips’ letter. But it acknowledges that she had gone through some kind of major health issue; a separate letter, from the actor William Baldwin, mentions she had a kidney transplant and feared for her own well-being.
“I depended on Danny to take care of me and our daughter,” Phillips wrote. “I always felt that she would be okay because Danny is an amazing father.”
The allegations first arose weeks after her transplant in 2017, when Masterson was written off the Netflix show “The Ranch.” That’s when he began working hard to pivot to the winemaking business, Phillips told the judge.
“When we finally returned home, we thought we could start to focus on our lives as a family,” she wrote. “That’s when the investigation against him began. After he lost his show and acting career, he devoted himself to finding other ways to earn a living.
“We left our home in Los Angeles to move to a farm in Santa Ynez, where I could recuperate. Danny immediately began to work the land and grow a beautiful vineyard with 6,000 vines, that he tended on his own for six years. He toiled long days on the land to make it profitable for our family. He took classes to learn about growing grapes, wines and he became a sommelier. He also studied the business end of it.”
Read the entire letter below:
Dear Judge Olmedo,
I am writing to you to ask that you consider this information when sentencing my husband, Danny Masterson. Danny and I have been together for 19 years. We married in 2011 and our beautiful daughter was born in 2014. She is the bright spot throughout many years of crises and uncertainty.
I can say that Danny has literally been a life-saving partner to me.
[Section redacted]
At the time, our daughter was just three years old. She was our miracle child. I depended on Danny to take care of me and our daughter. I always felt that she would be okay because Danny is an amazing father. He was devoted to our daughter, would read her books, take her on walks and to ballet lessons. I never once heard him complain. The two were inseparable.
[Section redacted]
When we finally returned home, we thought we could start to focus on our lives as a family. That’s when the investigation against him began. After he lost his show and acting career, he devoted himself to finding other ways to earn a living.
We left our home in Los Angeles to move to a farm in Santa Ynez, where I could recuperate. Danny immediately began to work the land and grow a beautiful vineyard with 6,000 vines, that he tended on his own for six years. He toiled long days on the land to make it profitable for our family. He took classes to learn about growing grapes, wines and he became a sommelier. He also studied the business end of it.
Danny has always been against drugs and helped so many friends and colleagues get sober. My husband, who never smoked a joint in his life, has strong feelings about drugs that have never wavered. He tried to shield the younger actors he worked with from such temptations and offered them advice on their careers and in their lives.
Danny is an amazing father. Our daughter and I are heartbroken that he is not home with us. 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. She is far above grade level in all subjects, reading three grades above her own, and that is thanks to the guidance and attention of her father. Danny has watched her piano recitals and applauds when she practices in the living room after each song. Our daughter loves her pony on our farm, as well as our dogs and cats. But more than anything, she loves her father. When he calls us each day, she ends with “I love you too much Daddy.”
[Sentence redacted]
We need him more than you can imagine. 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.Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.
Very respectfully,
Bijou Phillips Masterson
Kelly Hartog contributed to this report.
