LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis apologized Saturday for character letters the celebrity couple wrote on behalf of fellow “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson earlier than he was sentenced for rape this week.
A decide in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in jail for raping two girls in 2003.
In a video posted on Instagram, Kutcher and Kunis mentioned they had been sorry for the ache they could have brought about with the letters, which had been made public Friday.
Kutcher mentioned the letters that requested for leniency “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.”
Kutcher mentioned Masterson’s household approached them after the actor was convicted within the rapes in Could and requested them to write down character letters describing “the person that we knew for 25 years.” The letters had been posted on-line by The Hollywood Reporter and different digital publications.
Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace in “That ’70s Show” from 1998 till 2006.
He had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” however was written off the present when the Los Angeles Police Division investigation was revealed the next yr.
Los Angeles Superior Courtroom Decide Charlaine F. Olmedo handed down the sentence to Masterson, 47, after listening to statements from the ladies, and pleas for equity from protection attorneys.
Kutcher described Masterson as a person who handled folks “with decency, equality, and generosity,” he wrote in his letter dated July 27, 2023.
Kunis in her letter to Olmedo referred to as Masterson “an outstanding role model and friend” and an “distinctive older brother determine.”
Each rapes passed off in Masterson’s Hollywood-area home in 2003 when he was on the top of his fame on the Fox community sitcom “That ’70s Show.” The victims testified that Masterson drugged them earlier than violently raping them.
Kunis mentioned within the apology video that their letters didn’t imply to undermine the testimony of victims.
“Our heart goes out to every single person who’s ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or rape,” she mentioned.
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