LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are back in headlines after penning letters in support of their former 'That '70s Show' co-star Danny Masterson, who had been convicted on two rape counts.
The 47-year-old was sentenced to 30 years to life in jail on Thursday, September 7, for sexually abusing three women between 2001 and 2003 by allegedly "drugging" them.
Before the hearing, Kutcher, 45, and Kunis, 40, wrote individual letters to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo to urge for leniency when sentencing Masterson, legal affairs journalist Meghann Cuniff first reported.
In the letter, the couple, who started dating in 2012, painted a picture of Masterson that stood in stark contrast to the charges leveled against him by his victims, according to Variety.
While Kunis praised Masterson's "exceptional character" and described him as an "outstanding older brother figure," Kutcher referred to him as a "role model" in his letter.
Why were Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis slammed for supporting Danny Masterson?
Following the release of their letters, Kutcher and Kunis received brutal criticism for their support of Masterson, particularly due to their advocacy on behalf of the victims of sex crimes.
In 2012, Kutcher and his former wife Demi Moore co-founded a non-profit organization to combat sex trafficking called Thorn.
Meanwhile, Kunis also raised her protest against sexual assault in 2022, when she produced and played the leading role in Netflix's Luckiest Girl Alive, a thriller about the trauma caused by the crime.
In the wake of the severe backlash, several internet users have also brought up a clip of Kunis and Kutcher's 2002 interview with Rosie O'Donnell, in which the co-stars discussed Masterson making a "bet" with Kutcher about using "tongue" while kissing Kunis onscreen for the first time.
The resurfaced clip apparently shared with Kutcher and Kunis discussing her first kiss on the set of 'That '70s Show', where she was 14 and he was 19.
Then, the ‘Four Good Days’ star went on to recall her side of the story, saying "I had never kissed a guy, and I was so [nervous]. Ashton's an attractive guy, and I was a 14-year-old little girl. I was extremely scared for my life.”
"[Ashton] was very nice about it, and was like 'Don't worry.' Then Danny goes to him and says, 'Dude, I'll give you $10 if you French kiss her,’” she added.
The shocking resurfaced interview has garnered immense social media attention, with many users slamming Masterson for betting to kiss 14-year-old Kunis.
“The fact the host said "and the cops pulled up and you got arrested right" Ashton laughs and says "Well I should have"!” one user asserted.
“Isn't this sexual predation through and through?” a second user fumed while the third wrote “The way he watching her making sure she doesn’t tell anything important makes me so uneasy”
“She literally says the words ‘I was extremely scared for my life’ - that’s gotta come from some happening,” another user wrote.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis apologize for supporting Danny Masterson
This showing interview resurfaced after Kutcher and Kunis released an apology video for writing character letters to a judge in support of Masterson.
"We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson," Kutcher said in the clip, while Kunis, sitting beside him.
"We support victims. We have done this historically through our work and will continue to do so in the future,” he added.
Kutcher said that a couple of months ago, Masterson's family reached out to them and asked them 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."
This showing interview resurfaced after Kutcher and Kunis released an apology video for writing character letters to a judge in support of Masterson.
"We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson," Kutcher said in the clip, while Kunis, sitting beside him.
Mila then went on to note that "the letters were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the validity of the jury's ruling."
"They were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatize them in any way. We would never want to do that, and we're sorry if that has taken place,” the ‘Just Married’ star added.
Kunis ends the video by saying, “Our heart goes out to every single person who’s ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse or rape.”