LOS ANGELES \u2014 Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis apologized Saturday for character letters the celebrity couple wrote on behalf of fellow \u201cThat \u201970s Show\u201d actor Danny Masterson before he was sentenced for rape this week.<\/p>\n
A judge in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women in 2003.<\/p>\n
In a video posted on Instagram, Kutcher and Kunis said they were sorry for the pain they may have caused with the letters, which were made public Friday.<\/p>\n
Kutcher said the letters that asked for leniency \u201cwere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kutcher said Masterson\u2019s family approached them after the actor was convicted in the rapes in May and asked them to write character letters describing \u201cthe person that we knew for 25 years.\u201d The letters were posted online by The Hollywood Reporter and other digital publications.<\/p>\n
Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace in \u201cThat \u201970s Show\u201d from 1998 until 2006.<\/p>\n
He had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy \u201cThe Ranch,\u201d but was written off the show when the Los Angeles Police Department investigation was revealed the following year.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo handed down the sentence to Masterson, 47, after hearing statements from the women, and pleas for fairness from defense attorneys.<\/p>\n
Kutcher described Masterson as a man who treated people “with decency, equality, and generosity,\u201d he wrote in his letter dated July 27, 2023.<\/p>\n
Kunis in her letter to Olmedo called Masterson \u201can outstanding role model and friend\u201d and an \u201cexceptional older brother figure.”<\/p>\n
Both rapes took place in Masterson\u2019s Hollywood-area home in 2003 when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox network sitcom \u201cThat \u201970s Show.\u201d The victims testified that Masterson drugged them before violently raping them.<\/p>\n
Kunis said in the apology video that their letters did not mean to undermine the testimony of victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur heart goes out to every single person who\u2019s ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or rape,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n