As Danny Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison Thursday for the forcible rape of two women in the early aughts, some familiar faces continued to support him.
Some of them — or at least their words — even showed up in court, as Judge Charlaine Olmedo doled out his sentence.
Here’s a closer look at Masterson’s inner circle:
Bijou Phillips
The Almost Famous actress and model, who’s the daughter of the Mamas and the Papas singer John Phillips and actress Geneviève Waïte, married Masterson in 2011 after having met him at a Las Vegas poker tournament in the early 2000s. They share 9-year-old daughter, Fianna.
In 2017, they faced a medical crisis together, when she underwent a kidney transplant.
“My lady has been slowing dying for the past 7 years of an incurable kidney disease,” Masterson wrote on social media. “She was given the gift of an encore by a tall angel. Our daughter will have a mother. We do not take lightly how incredibly fortunate we are. 100% successful transplant. Now the real work begins for her to silence any chance of rejection. Our deepest gratitude to a perfect transplant team. And a life owed to a tall drink of water. Sláinte!”
Phillips mentioned both those subjects in her letter to the judge ahead of Masterson’s sentencing, referring to him both as “a life-saving partner” and “amazing father.” She added, “We need him more than you can imagine.”
Phillips was in the courtroom, reportedly in tears, during the sentencing. Courtroom sketches show that Masterson blew her a kiss before being led away.
The Masterson family
Masterson’s parents, Carol and Pete, helped him to begin acting and modeling by the time he was 5. Peter has worked as an insurance agent, while Carol has been a talent manager, according to In Touch Weekly. The pair divorced at some point, and she married a retired Australian rugby player, Joe Reaiche.
In the courtroom during her son’s sentencing, Carol “looked visibly upset,” Entertainment Tonight reported, adding that, along with Phillips, she was rushed off to a waiting vehicle after the sentence was revealed.
Then there are his siblings, which include three actors: Christopher and half-siblings Alanna and Jordan, the latter two reportedly both born to his mother and Reaiche. The non-actor is a half-sibling from his father’s side, Will.
Christopher Masterson appeared on several episodes of That ’70s Show and he was part of the cast of another successful sitcom, Malcolm in the Middle. Audiences saw him, too, in Julia Roberts romcom smash My Best Friend’s Wedding.
His sister Alanna Masterson is best known for her role as Tara on The Walking Dead.
Jordan Masterson, meanwhile, is an alum of Last Man Standing, with credits in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Greek.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
Both Kutcher and Kunis were Masterson’s co-stars on That ’70s Show, which aired from 1998 to 2006. While Kutcher was only on a few episodes of the the show’s final season, he and Masterson stayed in touch and, as Esquire explained in January, Masterson, remained a mentor to Kutcher, who had less experience in the entertainment industry when he met Masterson. The men worked together again on Netflix’s The Ranch beginning in 2016, until Masterson was fired the following year because of what were then allegations of rape. (The beleaguered actor also did not appear in the Netflix reboot of his most famous project, called That ’90s Show, with Kutcher and Kunis, this year.)
When he spoke to Esquire, Kutcher said he wanted Masterson to be innocent, but he couldn’t know for sure.
“I’m not the judge. I’m not the jury. I’m not the DA. I’m not the victim. And I’m not the accused,” he said. “And so, in that case, I don’t have a space to comment.”
He still wrote a letter to the judge in support of his friend. “Danny is a person that is consistently there for you when you need him. We’ve traveled around the world together, raised our daughters together, and shared countless family moments,” he wrote. “Not only is he a good friend to me I’ve witnessed him be a good friend to others and the kind of brother others would be lucky to have.”
Meanwhile, Kunis, who moved on from the Fox sitcom to star in movies such as Black Swan and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, backed up her husband’s account of Masterson’s positive effect on their lives.
“Throughout our time together, Danny has proven to be an amazing friend, confidant, and, above all, an outstanding older brother figure to me,” she wrote. “His caring nature and ability to offer guidance have been instrumental in my growth both personally and professionally.”
Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith
Rupp and Smith, who played the central parents featured in That ’70s Show, each had a lengthy list of credits when they joined the cast. One of Rupp’s first roles was playing the secretary of Tom Hanks’s character — an adolescent in an adult’s body — in Big. She later appeared on WandaVision and This Is Us, while Smith joined Masterson and Kutcher on The Ranch.
Both raved in their letters of support for him about Masterson having taken the time to meet each member of the crew on That ’70s Show and how, later, he was a family man. They credited him with having been the leader of the younger cast members. Rupp, who’s also a stage actress, noted that Masterson had been “one of the few that came to support me by seeing my shows in the theater” over the years.
Giovanni and Marissa Ribisi
Like Masterson, Ribisi’s parents were members of the Church of Scientology when he was growing up, and he followed them into the organization. They met in the early ’80s, when Ribisi, whose credits include Friends, Saving Private Ryan and Avatar, was 9.
“When we were children,” Ribisi explained in his letter to the judge, “Danny would trek across the country from New York and stay with my family and me in North Hollywood during the peak audition months for child actors.”
Ribisi’s twin sister Marissa, who’s also an actor, said Masterson had become “like a brother to us and very much a part of our family.” They had even dated in the 1990s.
As adults, both have maintained their friendship with him.
Billy Baldwin
The Backdraft actor, who’s married to Phillips’s sister Chynna, of Wilson Phillips fame, told the court that he’s somewhat of a father-figure to Bijou, whom he’s known since she was 10. He said Masterson “functions in a similar capacity in his family with all of his siblings,” because he’s helped out his mother when she was single.
