10 September 2023 , 03:20
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The victims of rapist Danny Masterson have slammed Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, claiming their comments are "insulting and hurtful".
The married couple, who starred alongside Masterson, had been heavily criticised for writing character references ahead of his sentencing. Masterson was sentenced this week to 30 years in prison for the rape of two women. Both Kutcher and Kunis had penned letters vouching for the disgraced actor and convicted rapist before his sentencing, documents show, in which Kutcher referred to Masterson as a "role model". Kunis also commended his "exceptional character". Following outrage from fans, they couple put out a video apologising for any upset caused and explaining why they wrote the letters.
Journalist Yashar Ali shared the women's reaction, writing: "Jane Doe #1 , one of the women Danny Masterson was convicted of raping, just texted me her reaction to Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis' video.'
The message from her said: "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."'
Ashton Kutcher, left, and Danny Masterson present the award for collaborative video of the year at the CMT Music Awards at Music City Center on June 7, 2017, (Wade Payne/Invision/AP)Kutcher began the statement: "We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson." Kunis then took over to say: "We support all victims. We have done this historically through all our work and will continue to do so in the future."
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Explaining the situation behind their letters of support, Kutcher added: "A couple of months ago Danny's family reached out to us and they asked us to write character letters to represent the person that we knew for 25 years so that the judge could take that into full consideration relative to the sentencing."
Ashton Kutcher, left, and Mila Kunis arrive at the Oscars on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles (Jae C. Hong/Invision/AP)Kunis urged fans to realise the letters weren't there to question the legitimacy of the system or the validity of the ruling, with Kutcher saying they were in no way meant to "re-traumatise" the victims.
Kunis then said after an apology from Kutcher: "Our heart goes out to every single person who has ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or rape."
After several days of deliberation, a jury found Masterson guilty of the crimes on May 31. The assaults occurred in 2003; during which time he was actively filming the series. Masterson was also alleged to have raped a third woman. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on the third allegation and the charges were dismissed.