“That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping two women

Masterson has been in custody since May and will be eligible for parole after serving 25 1/2 years

By Kelly McClure

Nights & Weekends Editor

Published September 7, 2023 4:36PM (EDT)

Actor Danny Masterson arrives at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 with wife Bijou Phillips for his retrial for allegedly raping three women between 2001 and 2003.  (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Actor Danny Masterson arrives at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 with wife Bijou Phillips for his retrial for allegedly raping three women between 2001 and 2003. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Danny Masterson — best known for his role as Hyde in the Fox sitcom "That '70s Show" — was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Thursday for raping two women at his Hollywood Hills home in 2003.  

Per NBC News, Masterson did not take the stand at either of his trials, nor did he make a statement of any sort at his sentencing. Denying the charges against him throughout the totality of the legal process, his demeanor in court was described as displaying "no visible emotion" and his wife, actress Bijou Phillips, is said to have left the Los Angeles courtroom "without a word" after Judge Charlaine Olmedo announced her husband's sentence. 

"Mr. Masterson, I know that you're sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that has failed you," Olmedo said prior to sending Masterson to prison. "But Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here." 

The two women Masterson was convicted of raping and a former girlfriend he was acquitted of sexually assaulting addressed the actor during the sentencing, with one woman saying, "You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent . . . The world is better off with you in prison."

 

 


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