Daniel Peter Masterson (born March 13, 1976) is an American actor. He portrayed Steven Hyde in That '70s Show (1998–2006), Milo Foster in Men at Work (2012–2014), and Jameson "Rooster" Bennett in The Ranch (2016–2018).
In 2023, Masterson was convicted of raping two women in 2003, and is currently serving a 30 years to life prison sentence. A third count of rape resulted in a hung jury. Masterson is a Scientologist, as were his victims at the time of the assaults. The Church of Scientology's attempts to silence the victims, and other interference, delayed for 20 years the bringing of the crimes to justice.
Masterson was born on Long Island, New York, to Carol and Peter Masterson. He grew up in Albertson, Garden City, and East Williston in Nassau County. Masterson has a brother, actor Christopher Masterson, who played Francis on Malcolm in the Middle. Their maternal half-siblings, Jordan Masterson and Alanna Masterson, are also actors. He also has a paternal half-brother, Will Masterson.
Starting at age four, Masterson worked as a child model, and at age five, was featured in magazine articles as well as television commercials. Masterson starred in musicals at the age of eight and began acting as well. His singing voice "disappeared" by his teenage years. By the time he was 16 years-old, Masterson had appeared in over 100 commercials, including ones for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Hardee's, Hostess, Tang, and Clearasil.
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 and audition for a show originally titled Teenage Wasteland, which later was changed to That '70s Show.
Masterson starred in all eight seasons of That '70s Show as Steven Hyde. His role on That '70s Show launched Masterson's career, allowing him to pursue other endeavors between tapings. After the show concluded, Masterson acted in several movies and made guest appearances on television shows including Punk'd and MADtv. Along with '70s costars Ashton Kutcher and Wilmer Valderrama, he co-hosted the Fox TV special Woodstock 1999. He had a role in the 2008 comedy Yes Man. Masterson starred with his real-life future 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.
In 2012, the sitcom Men at Work premiered on TBS, co-starring Masterson, 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, Elisha Cuthbert, and his That 70s Show costar Ashton Kutcher in the Netflix comedy series The Ranch from 2016 to 2018. His character was written out of the series in the middle of filming the third 20-episode season because of the rape and assault allegations against him. For similar reasons, he was the only surviving main or supporting cast member of That '70s Show not to be invited back to the sequel series That '90s Show, and his character, Steven Hyde, was simply not mentioned in the new series. His former castmate on That '70s Show and a fellow Scientologist, Laura Prepon, had left the Church by the time of the allegations.
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. After Donkey Punch, he changed his name to DJ Donkey Pizzle, then DJ Mom Jeans by 2010. 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 DJed with.
For a time, Masterson owned a lounge and bar in Park City, Utah, called Downstairs.
Masterson appeared as part of a poker team, the Unabombers, in the 2005 GSN series The James Woods Gang vs. The Unabombers. He had hosted celebrity poker events, such as the Phat Farm Stuff Casino Weekend Poker Tournament, in which he won the tournament.
Masterson is a Scientologist. He started dating actress Bijou Phillips in 2004. They became engaged in 2009 and married on October 18, 2011. They have one daughter, who was born in February 2014.
On September 18, 2023, Phillips filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences and requesting full legal and physical custody of their child, as well as spousal support.
In March 2017, three women filed sexual assault allegations against Masterson, prompting an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. Masterson, through his agent, denied the allegations. In December 2017, after a fourth victim's accusations, Netflix fired Masterson from its comedy series The Ranch, 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 was "obviously very disappointed in Netflix's decision to write [his] character off of The Ranch." A few weeks later, a fifth woman made similar rape accusations. He was dropped as a client by United Talent Agency.
In November 2017, musician Cedric Bixler-Zavala of the groups The Mars Volta and At the Drive-In wrote that Masterson had sexually assaulted his wife Chrissie Carnell. Bixler-Zavala further stated that At the Drive-In's song "Incurably Innocent" (from the 2017 album In•ter a•li•a) is about the incident.
In early 2017, the show Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath had filmed a two-hour episode that focused on the sexual-assault allegations against Masterson with interviews from multiple accusers. The show was planned to air during season 2, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office initially asked A&E not to air the episode until the office had concluded investigations and decided whether to charge Masterson. After waiting another year and a half, A&E decided to air the episode as the season 3 finale in February, but as soon as they announced it, A&E and Disney were bombarded with a campaign of attack letters from Scientologists. Though delayed, the episode finally aired six months later on August 26, 2019, as a two-hour special, titled "Waiting for Justice". One week before the airing, four accusers filed a civil suit against Masterson and the Church of Scientology.
Each of the four plaintiffs had been a member of the Church of Scientology at the time, as was Danny Masterson. Scientology forbids its members to report fellow members to police for any reason. After each plaintiff reported the sexual assaults to the police, she was declared a "suppressive person" and ejected from the Church.