Resurfacing a revealing 2009 cover story on "power couple" Bijou Phillips and Danny Masterson

The February 2009 Paper magazine cover story profiled Bijou and Danny at the height of their fame and influence in the LA scene

From the opening sentence, the February 2009 paste cover story on the “power couple” of Danny Masterson and Bijou Phillips is cringe inducing. “In Hollywood, there’s safety in pairs.”

Tell that to all the women Danny raped and I’m sure they’d have a different perspective.

Later on in the same paragraph, we are treated to a description of the problems facing Hollywood couples: paparazzi traps and “being busted by Perez Hilton looking ‘shiteous.’” It was a different time.

I bought a copy after stumbling upon it on eBay and I couldn’t wait to dive in. It didn’t disappoint.

Paper magazine February 2009 cover story

Masterson and Phillips are described as the “epitome of the Hollywood power couple.” Making movies, music, DJing, modeling, owning trendy restaurants. Leading a “fabulously cool life that makes us mere mortals green with envy.” Oh, how the turn tables.

The profile is especially discordant because Bijou just filed for divorce in the wake of Danny’s 30-year sentence for rape. There’s speculation that this is a financial move, to allow Bijou to retain property and money in advance potential civil judgments against Danny.

The February 2009 Paper profile of Danny and Bijou mentioned that they hooked up after being sat next to each other at a poker tournament. They had known each other for a while, though, as Danny said he met Bijou when she was 15 and “vamping in ‘kiddie porn’ billboards” in NYC. Danny is about four years older so he would’ve been about 19 when they first met.

The profile also mentioned that they had recently done a few indie film projects but that they have “different work styles” which Danny described as, “When I’m at work, I’m working and when she’s at work, she still sort of wants to be boyfriend and girlfriend. I’m like, we can chat later. I found myself being a bit rude to her.” Danny says that they can’t do scenes together anymore because of this incompatibility.

Danny also recounts his acting career and how he did commercials as a child. Masterson also said he was still tight with Ashton Kutcher and that he co-owned two restaurants with Kutcher and they played fantasy football together. The details on Danny’s relationship with Ashton are relevant in light of the fallout from Ashton an Mila Kunis writing letters of support for Danny’s sentencing for multiple rapes.

Masterson also mentioned that he collected guns. This was notable to me as someone who followed Danny’s criminal trials closely. One of the Jane Does mentioned that Danny brandished a gun during one of the rapes. “I have lots of guns. I go to firing ranges all the time. It’s so much fun.” Danny said.

Bijou mentioned that she had a horse that she loved and that she had to “wash her hands vigourously” before returning home from the stable because Danny is “very allergic to fucking animals” according to Masterson. Danny’s mention of his allergy is also odd to me given that Scientology is supposed to be able to cure things like allergies.

The profile then has one long paragraph about Danny and Bijou being Scientologists. This was almost obligatory. Bijou was described as going on a long tangent, “about the dangers of psychiatrists medicating patients for depression or anxiety.”

“My grandparents didn’t take any pills and they were fine. Just buck up and get over it. Stop being such a fucking pansy.” Said Bijou. I’ll bet she’d like to have some pills right about now. Danny then has a very nondescript quote about how Scientology is helpful for being in Hollywood. The profile closes with Danny and Bijou leaving Shin, the new Korean barbeque that had just opened that Danny co-owned.

“As they leave, they hold hands. Masterson always drives the car, tonight it’s his 1970 Porsche 911S. ‘He’s Irish and stubborn,’ Phillips says. It’s a perfect starry L.A. night, and love is in the air.”

There are so many details sprinkled in this short profile that are damning in retrospect. The arrogance and crushing certainty of Danny and Bijou played out like it should, in a great downfall.

Other notes and Paper magazine’s mixed bag of a legacy

I’m not overly familiar with Paper magazine. I know they recently went out of business and had a relauch. A few months back there was an oral history in the New York Times. The magazine emerged from the 1980s New York art and music scene. They did a cover with Kim Kardashian in 2014 with the tag line “Break the Internet” that went viral, but other than that the magazine had been running on the intertia of its success in the 80s and 90s.

While Paper was cutting edge in chronicling the scene in NYC back in the day, in more recent years it seems to have wanted to keep an edginess. Paper ended up being a haven for people like the alleged rapist Terry Richardson, who was one of Paper’s frequent photographers. Richardson did a cover with alleged rapist Marilyn Manson wearing Mickey Mouse ears that is very creepy in retrospect. Especially because the Manson issue also has an article about Danny Masterson. I know the #MeToo movement brought down a few guys in Hollywood, but what does it say about Paper magazine that they featured three rapists in one issue?

Paper also seemed to be very cozy with the younger Scientology crew in Hollywood. Also in the February 2009 issue with Danny and Bijou on the cover, there was a photospread of people at the opening of Shin, a Korean barbeque restaurant that Danny had just opened with Mark Ronson and Steve Aoki. The stylist for the February 2009 Paper cover shoot was Ilaria Urbinati, a Scientologist who was mentioned in testimony in Danny’s trial and who was part of Danny’s Scientologist clique in Hollywood. Urbinati and Masterson co-owned a boutique in LA called Confederacy.

A lot of Paper’s archives are not online, but through references in other publications and reviewing the back issues on eBay and other websites that sell old magazines, it’s clear Paper was plugged in to Danny Masterson and his clique. For example, in 2015 Danny did an interview with Paper where he blasted Going Clear, the HBO documentary on Scientology that was premiering at the time to huge viewership and rave reviews.

“I heard about that documentary — the documentary where they interviewed eight people who hate Scientology. Should be pretty interesting,” he said. “I wonder if Sundance would allow a documentary of, like, eight people who hate Judaism. But, you know, my religion’s fair game, I guess, ’cause it’s new.”

Regarding the film’s validity, Masterson added: “Anyone can say anything about anything. How true it is, I guess that’s up to the reader. If you’re going to write something, and you don’t ask the people who actually do it, then what’s the f—ing point? We could all interview the KKK about what’s cool about being white, but we don’t. I don’t know, it just seems retarded to me.”

In the 2015 Paper interview, Danny also tried to defend Scientology’s views of gay people. “I mean, dude, there’s a fucking ton of gay Scientologists.” Masterson was quoted as saying. Tony Ortega does a great job of adding context showing that Scientology does in fact see homosexuality as a perversion and something that can be “cured” with auditing.