A day after their letters supporting Danny Masterson went public, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis issued an apology.
In an Instagram video posted to Kutcher’s account on Saturday, September 9, the married couple addressed the letters they wrote on behalf of Masterson, their former That ‘70s Show costar, after he was convicted of raping two women and before he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
In those letters, Kutcher called Masterson a “role model,” and Kunis said the 47-year-old had “exceptional character,” as People reported on Friday.
And in their Instagram video on Saturday, Kutcher and Kunis addressed the controversy, with Kutcher saying that they were “aware of the pain” their character letters caused.
“We support victims,” Kunis said. “We have done this historically through our work and will continue to do so in the future.”
Kutcher revealed that Masterson’s family reached out to them a couple of months ago, asking 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.”
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Kunis added, “The letters were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the validity of the jury’s ruling.”
Kutcher said, “They were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or re-traumatize them in any way. We would never want to do that. And we’re sorry if that has taken place.”
And Kunis concluded their statement, saying, “Our heart goes out to every single person who’s ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse or rape.”
Other celebrities who wrote character letters for Masterson included That ‘70s Show stars Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp, as well as Ethan Suplee, Eric Balfour, William Baldwin, Giovanni Ribisi, and Jonathan Tucker, according to People.
