Danny Masterson

Danny Masterson is an American actor and convicted rapist who is currently incarcerated in California. He is best known for playing Steven Hyde, the sarcastic, anti-authority slacker at the center of the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, which ran for eight seasons from 1998 to 2006. That role made him a familiar face to a generation of television viewers and led to later series work on Men at Work and The Ranch.

His career ended in 2017 when multiple women accused him of sexual assault. In September 2023 a Los Angeles jury convicted him on two counts of forcible rape, and a judge sentenced him to 30 years to life in prison. He has been held in state custody ever since, and in October 2026 the California Court of Appeal upheld both the conviction and the sentence. Masterson maintains his innocence. [edit]

Daniel Peter Masterson was born on March 13, 1976, in Albertson, a small village on Long Island's North Shore. Acting ran in the family: his younger brother Christopher Masterson also became a performer, and the two would eventually share screen time on That '70s Show. The brothers attended the High School for Performing Arts in Manhattan, then headed west to Los Angeles to chase work.

The road to That '70s Show was paved with odd jobs and small parts. Masterson waited tables and picked up whatever audition he could while grinding through guest spots on The Young and the Restless and Beverly Hills, 90210 in the mid-1990s. Those credits were tiny, but they taught him the rhythm of sitcom pacing, which would serve him well.

In 1998, at 22, he auditioned for a new Fox comedy set in 1970s Wisconsin. The role of Hyde, a chain-smoking cynic with a soft spot for his friends, fit him almost too well. He got the part, and his life changed overnight. [edit]

That '70s Show premiered in August 1998 and became a ratings staple for Fox, running 200 episodes across eight seasons. Masterson's Hyde was the show's resident skeptic, delivering deadpan one-liners and a permanent sneer. The series turned its young cast, including Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Topher Grace, into stars. Masterson stayed for the entire run, which ended in 2006.

After the show wrapped, he worked steadily but never again reached the same height. Films like The Last Time (2004) and Crazy on the Outside (2005) came and went quietly. In 2012 he returned to series television as Milo Foster on the CBS sitcom Men at Work, which lasted two seasons. From 2016 to 2018 he played Jameson "Rooster" Bennett on the Netflix comedy The Ranch, appearing in 26 episodes opposite Ashton Kutcher and Sam Elliott.

That job ended abruptly. After rape allegations surfaced in 2017, he was written out of The Ranch and has not worked as an actor since. His arrest in 2020 effectively closed the book on his career. [edit]

For most of his career, Danny Masterson traded on a specific persona: the cool, detached slacker with a leather jacket and a smirk. As Steven Hyde, he embodied a kind of 1970s anti-establishment cool that resonated with late-1990s audiences. Off screen, he cultivated a similar vibe, often appearing in interviews with the same laid-back, slightly aloof demeanor.

That image is now inseparable from his crimes. Media coverage of Masterson today focuses almost entirely on his trial, his Scientology ties, and his prison sentence. The character of Hyde still exists in syndication and on streaming, but the actor behind him is widely viewed through the lens of his conviction. There is no active publicity machine around him; his social media accounts are dormant. [edit]

iFANN has not yet collected fame data for Danny Masterson, so no ranking is available. He is not on the September 2026 iFAMOUS Rankings flagship list.

There is no organized fandom around Masterson himself. Fans of That '70s Show still celebrate the character of Steven Hyde, quoting his lines and sharing clips, but that affection is directed at the fictional creation, not the man. Online discussion of Masterson is mostly confined to true-crime forums and retrospective articles about the show, where his name now serves as a cautionary tale rather than a draw. The audience that once made him famous has largely moved on, and the fanbase, such as it is, has no formal name or structure. [edit]

Masterson is a lifelong member of the Church of Scientology, and his faith became a central issue in his trials. Prosecutors argued that the church discouraged his accusers from going to police, and his defense team later claimed the judge was biased against Scientology.

He and his brother Christopher both appeared in That '70s Show, though Christopher played a different character, Michael Kelso's dim-witted friend Francis. The two brothers also co-starred in the 2005 film The Last Time.

Before acting paid the bills, Masterson worked as a waiter and a bartender. He has said he was fired from a restaurant job for eating a customer's leftovers.

Fans of That '70s Show still quote Hyde's lines, especially his catchphrase "That's the thing about the future, it's always coming." The character remains a cult favorite even as Masterson's personal reputation has collapsed. [edit]

Masterson grew up in Albertson, New York, in a family with deep ties to entertainment. His brother Christopher Masterson is also an actor, best known for playing Francis on Malcolm in the Middle. The two brothers attended the High School for Performing Arts together.

In 2011 he married actress and model Bijou Phillips, and the couple had one daughter, Jagger Rose, born in 2010. Phillips filed for divorce in 2017, and the split was finalized later that year. Phillips has since spoken publicly about the marriage and her ex-husband's legal troubles.

Masterson's parents and siblings have largely stayed out of the spotlight during his incarceration. His brother Christopher has not commented publicly on the conviction. [edit]

Danny Masterson's public romantic history is short and mostly tied to one marriage. In 2011 he wed actress and model Bijou Phillips, and the couple had a daughter, Jagger Rose, in 2010. They met through mutual friends in the entertainment industry and were together for six years.

Phillips filed for divorce in 2017, the same year rape allegations against Masterson became public. The divorce was finalized later that year. Since then, there have been no reported relationships. As of 2026, Masterson is divorced and incarcerated, with no current partner. [edit]

Danny Masterson's financial picture is murky, but the iFANN Editorial Team's analysis of his earnings, assets, and legal costs points to a current net worth of roughly $3 million. That figure reflects a career that once generated steady income from a hit sitcom and now generates almost nothing.

During the peak years of That '70s Show, Masterson earned a salary reported to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per episode in later seasons. Syndication residuals from the show's 200 episodes continued to pay him for years. He also drew paychecks from Men at Work and The Ranch, though neither matched the sitcom's long-tail value.

Since his arrest in 2020, Masterson has had no acting income. Legal fees for two trials and an appeal have consumed a significant portion of his savings. He owned real estate in Los Angeles, but the status of those properties is unclear; some assets may be subject to claims or forfeiture. His ex-wife, Bijou Phillips, has primary custody of their daughter, and financial arrangements from their divorce likely affect his holdings.

As of 2026, the bulk of his remaining wealth is tied up in illiquid assets and retirement accounts. The iFANN estimate of $3 million accounts for the erosion of his estate over nearly a decade of legal expenses and lost work. [edit]