Danny Masterson

Born Name: Daniel Peter Masterson
Date of Birth: March 13, 1976
Place of Birth: Long Island, New York, U.S.
Height: 1.78 m
Occupation: Actor, disc jockey, businessman
Spouse: Bijou Phillips (m. 2011)
Children: Fianna Francis Masterson
Relatives: Christopher Masterson (brother)
Jordan Masterson (maternal half-brother)
Alanna Masterson (maternal half-sister)
Will Masterson

Daniel Peter Masterson (born March 13, 1976) is an American actor, active Scientologist, and disc jockey. Masterson played the roles of Steven Hyde in That '70s Show (1998–2006) and Jameson "Rooster" Bennett in The Ranch (2016–2018).

Early life and career
Masterson was born on Long Island, New York, the son of Carol, a manager, and Peter Masterson, an insurance agent.

A child model from age four, who was featured in magazine articles as well as television commercials beginning at age five, Masterson starred in musicals as a child at the age of eight, and began acting as well. His singing voice "disappeared" by the time he was a teenager. By the time he was sixteen, he had appeared in over one-hundred commercials, Hardee's, Hostess, Tang, and Clearasil.

Career
Acting career
In the early 1990s, Masterson had a role in Beethoven's 2nd, and starred as Justin in Cybill. After starring in the third and fourth seasons of Cybill, Masterson decided he wanted to move on from Cybill and audition for a show originally titled Teenage Wasteland, which later was changed to That '70s Show.

Masterson appeared in all eight seasons of That '70s Show. His appearance on That '70s Show launched a breakthrough in Masterson's career, allowing him to pursue other endeavours between tapings. After the show concluded Masterson starred in several movies and made guest appearances on television shows including Punk'd and MADtv. Along with Kutcher and Valderrama, he co-hosted the Fox TV special Woodstock 1999. He had a role in the 2008 comedy Yes Man. Masterson stars with his real-life wife, Bijou Phillips, in the 2009 drama The Bridge to Nowhere.

In 2011, Masterson guest starred as James Roland in USA Network's White Collar (episode "Where There's A Will"). He portrayed Jerry Rubin in the 2010 movie, The Chicago 8, written and directed by Pinchas Perry. The Chicago 8 is a film based on the actual Chicago Eight in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and explores the events around the trial. It was filmed in September and October 2009. The film is based closely on the trial transcripts and most of the action takes place in the courtroom.

In 2012, the comedy series Men At Work premiered on TBS, co-starring Masterson and Michael Cassidy, James Lesure and Adam Busch. In 2012, Masterson appeared in the film Alter Egos, directed by Jordan Galland.

Masterson starred alongside Sam Elliott, Ashton Kutcher, and Elisha Cuthbert in the Netflix comedy series The Ranch.

Music
Masterson began DJing at Los Angeles night clubs in 1997 as a hobby, under the name DJ Donkey Punch, but it soon became a side business. He currently goes by the name DJ Mom Jeans. Masterson is a self-described "rock and hip hop fanatic," and is also a fan of indie, electro, and funk music, all of which he primarily DJs with.

Business ventures
For a time, Masterson owned a lounge and bar in Park City, Utah, called Downstairs.

He appeared as part of a poker team, the Unabombers, the 2005 GSN series The James Woods Gang vs. The Unabombers. He has hosted celebrity poker events, such as the Phat Farm Stuff Casino Weekend Poker Tournament, in which he won the tournament.

Personal life
Masterson is a Scientologist. He started dating Bijou Phillips in 2005, they became engaged in 2009, and married on October 18, 2011. Their daughter, Fianna Francis Masterson was born on February 14, 2014.

Rape and harassment allegations
In March 2017, four women filed rape allegations against Masterson prompting a Los Angeles Police Department investigation. Masterson, through his agent, has denied the allegations, and Masterson has not been charged or arrested. In response to the accusations, Netflix fired Masterson from its comedy series The Ranch on December 5, 2017, saying in a statement, "Yesterday was his last day on the show, and production will resume in early 2018 without him." Masterson stated that he is "obviously very disappointed in Netflix's decision to write my character off of The Ranch." A fifth woman who dated Masterson made similar rape accusations in December 2017. He was dropped as a client by United Talent Agency.

A planned 2019 episode of Leah Remini's show Aftermath, focusing on the Masterson rape allegations, was delayed due to what one of Masterson's accusers characterized as pressure from the Church of Scientology. The episode eventually aired on August 27, 2019.

Cedric Bixler-Zavala, singer for the bands The Mars Volta and At the Drive-In, alleged that Masterson sexually assaulted his wife Chrissie Carnell Bixler, and stated his band's song "Incurably Innocent" (from the 2017 album In•ter a•li•a) is about the incident.

In August 2019, four women filed a lawsuit against Masterson and the Church of Scientology for stalking and harassment, stemming from their rape allegations. One plaintiff claims her dog mysteriously died from (unexplained) traumatic injuries to its trachea and esophagus; she also alleges that church members chased her as she drove her car, filmed her without permission, harassed her online and posted ads to social media sites soliciting sex in her name. Another plaintiff stated that she and her neighbors observed a man snapping pictures from her driveway and later that night someone broke a window in her 13-year-old daughter's bedroom. Such stalking and harassment claims are indicative of a Scientology term titled Fair Game, which was officially cancelled by L. Ron Hubbard in 1968; but the plaintiffs lawyers claim it continues through 'outsourcing' to private investigators and off duty police officers, to any detractors and ex-members of the church. Masterson has since responded to one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit claiming "I’m not going to fight my ex-girlfriend in the media like she’s been baiting me to do for more than two years. I will beat her in court—and look forward to it because the public will finally be able learn the truth and see how I’ve been railroaded by this woman and once her lawsuit is thrown out, I intend to sue her and the others who jumped on the bandwagon for the damage they caused me and my family." He has not addressed the stalking or harassment claims.

On January 22, 2020, Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta & At The Drive-In reported that a second of his family pets had to be put down due to being fed rat poison wrapped inside a rolled up piece of raw meat alleging that this was done by Scientologists in response to his repeated public statements alleging Masterson of raping his wife (who was one of the four women who filed suit against Masterson). Masterson has yet to directly respond to any of Bixler-Zavala's claims or his prior rape allegations made by Chrissie Carnell Bixler with the closest acknowledgement being Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips making an Instagram post mocking Carnell Bixlers court papers against Masterson.