Hollywood power couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have spoken out after major backlash over letters they wrote in support of their former co-star, and convicted rapist, Danny Masterson. "We support victims, we have done this historically," Kunis said in a video released by the couple. This is a reference to the work the couple has done in regard to sex trafficking. Furthermore, Kutcher added that they had written the letters on behalf of Masterson's family. They did this so that they could speak to "the character of the person we knew for 25 years."
After their video apology was released, one of Masterson's victims produced a response through journalist Yashar Ali. 'This video was incredibly insulting and hurtful. My hope is that they learn radical accountability and the importance of self-education to learn when to keep their privilege in check—especially Ashton, who claims to work with victims of sex crimes. And as to Mila, I can only think of "Times Up"," "Jen B." said in her statement.
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Ashton Kutcher Under Fire
However, the letters of support have been scrutinized even further in the wake of a new scandal involving Kutcher. A 2003 clip from Punk'd, the MTV prank show Kutcher hosted between 2003 and 2007, shows Kutcher making lewd comments about an underage Hilary Duff. “Hilary Duff is in Lizzie McGuire, she also has an album out. She’s going to be in a movie called Cheaper by the Dozen. And she’s one of the girls that we’re all waiting for to turn 18. Along with the Olsen twins," Kutcher said while introducing Duff. At the time of the clip, Duff was 15.
At Masterson's sentencing, Judge Olmedo raised the fact that Masterson had paid his victims $1 million each to sign an NDA. The judge stated that "is an awful lot of money for an incident you say didn't happen." Furthermore, Olmedo declined the defense's request for Masterson to serve his 15-year sentences concurrently as opposed to consecutively. Meanwhile, one of the victims spoke on how Scientology had served as Masterson's "enabler and protector". However, she also said that she forgave Masterson for what he did. Additionally, she stated that she hoped he found peace in prison.
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