Bijou Phillips Petitions To Drop Danny Masterson’s Surname From Their Daughter’s Name
Nearly two years after ex-husband Danny Masterson’s conviction, Bijou Phillips has filed to change their daughter’s surname — a quiet but pointed step toward reshaping the family’s identity.
Heads up: this piece mentions sexual assault. Now, onto the news. Bijou Phillips just made a very deliberate, very public change in how her family is defined on paper. It is not splashy, but it is pointed.
What she filed
According to court docs People reviewed, Phillips filed on October 24 to change her 11-year-old daughter’s name from Fianna Francis Masterson to Fianna Francis Phillips. The request is sitting with a California judge, waiting on approval. TMZ was first to flag the petition. A small but telling administrative detail: that filing happened the same day both Phillips and Danny Masterson’s legal marital statuses were updated to single.
Where things stand between Phillips and Masterson
Phillips and Masterson started dating in 2004 and married in 2011. She filed for divorce in September 2023, two weeks after his sentencing, citing irreconcilable differences. They share one child. After his conviction, Masterson agreed in court papers that Phillips would have full legal and physical custody, with visitation rights for him. People also confirmed he is serving his sentence at North Kern State Prison in Delano, California.
The Masterson case, quickly
- 2001 to 2003: Prosecutors say Masterson forcibly raped three women.
- 2020: He is charged with three counts of rape.
- May 2023: A Los Angeles jury finds him guilty on two counts; the third count results in a hung jury.
- September 2023: He is sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
- December 2024: His attorneys file an appeal, arguing the trial included erroneous judicial rulings and that a stunning amount of exculpatory evidence was not presented.
How Phillips has talked about it
During the trial, Phillips publicly backed Masterson in a character letter, calling him an amazing father and saying she and their daughter were heartbroken over his imprisonment. By February 2024, in an interview with E! News, her focus had narrowed to daily life with her kid.
We are a great little team.
The read
Changing a child’s last name is a small move that speaks loudly. The timing lines up with the legal untying of the marriage on paper, and the request itself tracks with the custody setup already in place. Nothing flashy here, just a clear sign Phillips wants her daughter’s name to reflect the family situation as it is now, not as it was.