How do you feel about Ashton Kutcher and wife Mila asking judge for leniency in the sentencing of their friend Danny Masterson?

[Anonymous]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2023/09/10/ashton-kutcher-mila-kunis-apologize-danny-masterson-letters/70816307007/

Ashton, Mila, and Danny all starred on the tv show, "That 70's Show" years ago. In the early 2000's, it was revealed that Masterson brutally drugged and raped two women for which he was given the maximum sentence of 30 years to life in prison. Prior to sentencing, his family asked Ashton and Mila to write a letter on his behalf asking for leniency in sentencing which clearly did not work.

People are furious about this because Ashton in particular has for years spent a lot of time in person, in court, through an app he created for law enforcement, and in his charity organizations fighting for and rescuing sex trafficked women and girls. The pair claim in a video they put out on social media that they wanted leniency in part because Masterson has a daughter whom they did not want to see grow up without a father and that according to them, they weren't saying he wasn't guilty of the crimes....

in my opinion...but I mean did they do that for the other men and women they helped send off to jail who had kids? You see the problem with that logic? They are basically trying to fend of a s--- load of bad press, but you can't put away some and defend others just because they were once a friend. Ashton testified in court that he personally saw the abuse that these trafficked girls same age as his daughter went through, so knowing he's a dad and Mila is a mom, what if it were there kids and someone was asking for leniency against their rapist? I have a problem with that, and they should have had one too...

[Anonymous]

mila and ashton always think they are doing the "good" thing to stay relevant or just to be good I don't know but it's disgusting really.

for example they did a gofund me for ukraine and sent it off to ukraine instead of helping the people of ukraine.
Ukraine is the most corrupt country ever and they don't even know how war in urkaine started and how ukraine itself began to bomb it's own people but yet they send a bunch of money to those criminals which will only hurt the peopel who are suffering there MORE.
What bothered me also about this is that she would always say she is russian, never once had she ever spoke about ukraine and suddenly the news is bombarding us with urkaine and suddenly she wants to state is is from ukraine and have all these stories. It seems to me they creave attention, some people even having it all still want to be relevant on anything and everything.
I wonder if it's ever admitted here to sate the truth how we started the war in ukraine and blamed russia for it, and then she will come out to say well i'm actually russian now,... Attention seekers

I used to be a fan, i used like them both now they even defend rapists?
if the case has proof and has been proven to be fact, then how disgusting is it for them to even have a say on anything much less advocate for such actions..

I find them both disgusting at this point starving for attention when they already had it. They're getting older and can't find better ways to stay relevant. I don't know it's gross.

[Ozanne]

It was a stupid move, and they should have just stayed out of it. Anything a celebrity does is under a public microscope, and saying anything at all is going to be picked up and then encrypted online for the rest of their lives. They have to live with that bad choice now for the rest of their lives.

From what I understand, they knew what was going on back then, and hoped their meager influence would help him. I hope it's a lesson to other famous people that if they know of someone doing harm to others, maybe it's wise to distance themselves from it or speak out against it. Certainly they should not assume their celebrity status is going to solve everyone's problems. As we can see here, it didn't.

[Asker]

That's the thing I am most thankful for is that the judge actual handed down a sentence. From a lot of these cases there has been nothing or barely a slap on the wrist. I remember the case a while back at a college I believe where there were literal witnesses to this guy raping this woman, and the guy got off because he was rich. I mean what do we value in this country or anywhere? This is not okay, and I hope for Masterson's daughters sake, her family is able to provide her with some stable other male figure in her life.

[OfMiceandMen]

If Ashton and Mila were anyone else, it would not be news. People write such letters of support for their friends all the time when they get into trouble and make some poor judgement calls or really bad decisions in life.

I don't see why it would be different for some celebrities.

That being said, I definitely think Danny Masterson should be punished for his crimes, but, being a celebrity should not influence the decision. It should be based on whether he actually feels remorse for what he did and whether he apologizes both publicly and personally via letters to the women's lawyers.

I think he should also have to pay restitution, as these women will have bills from therapy and all kinds of things to cope with what happened. It's not only the short term impacts but the long term, trying to live with being raped.

[DreamLife7]

Exactly

[ZackBan]

Anytime a celebrity catches a rape charge I can't help but be skeptical.
Because for celebrities it's far more common for charges to be bogus as some try yo profit off of their high profile good fortune.

And when it becomes a case of public opinion, "innocent until proven guilty" is instantly thrown out of the window and people are calling for blood.

So I have no problem with other celebrities attesting to the character of someone they knew in person. It's not hypocritical because it's a case by case situation

[Meropatrick]

Some people are just trashy like that. They would advocate about Something but when it hits close to home they change their opinions. A woman can defend womens Rights all the way. But when she feels jealous of another women she would act like the biggest misogynist out there. I have dealt with people who r like that a lot. they would nag about body shaming or racisim but they will be the first to body shame and discriminate when they feel their ego is threatned. Hypocrisy is alive and well.

[Dinklex3]

Nothing. I feel like it was brave of them to be there for their friend, regardless of what others would think. Say what you want, but they knew damn well it’d come out and get interpreted that way.

They simply wrote about the person they knew their friend to be. It was a character letter, they weren’t minimizing what he did. They wanted to be there for the person they loved, while he was getting sentenced. Some people can’t just cut off feelings for someone they love, even if what they did was absolutely terrible and disturbing because that’s not the person they knew.
That’s that 💁‍♀️

[Jamie05rhs]

I understand people sticking by their friends and trying to stand up for them.
HOWEVER, the dude was found Guilty. At that point, you really need to reevaluate your relationship with the person. If someone you know RAPES someone, that changes EVERYTHING. Any good thing they did previously or are doing now is completely cancelled out by the heinous nature of the terrible thing that they did. They are NOT a good person! I don't care if they ring bells for the Salvation Army or visit kids with cancer. They are not -- I repeat, NOT -- a good person!!

[Anonymous]

I don't give a fuck. It makes perfect sense to me. But the fucking morality police with their pitchforks want them to basically publicly denounce their friend, and maybe even punch him in the face and scream at him to "burn in hell!"

That is the only acceptable response.

The morality police is a police of evil. I am an atheist but I think religious people are correct to say that you should love every person.

Otherwise you get a corrupt morality like the one I am seeing from the masses of people out there right now.

[Asker]

There is nothing wrong with them saying the friend they knew was a good person. You can't change what you know. However, when you know he is now about to be convicted for raping 2 women, and you've spent your life going after guys like him, and now you ask for leniency...that's the issue. How do you defend that bit of the story?

[Opinion Owner]

He is going to be punished regardless. Should they demand he be punished worse?

They should demand that they whip him while they stand and watch, in utter disgust of their former friend. And spit on him too.

The simple reality is that is not human. That is not how people react when someone they love does a bad thing.

It's not reality.

The morality police want to punish you for not only wrong actions, but wrong FEELINGS and wrong thoughts.

They need to control everything. People like that are insane to me.

[Opinion Owner]

Nope. That's not what I said. That is the conclusion that you choose to draw because you need every person to respond in the exact right way to every situation.

You need morality to be strictly rigid. Any deviation is extrapolated to an evil end.

There is no spectrum of possible reactions. Only the singular perfectly moral action and any deviation leads to a world of evil people.

Everything you think is about jumping to conclusions.

Any deviation will cause you to jump to conclusions.

They can so both things simultaneously. They can tell the judge the friend they knew, and they can morally condemn his actions at the same time.

If you dont think so I think you're naive. It's called being a human being.

To which you are averse to.

Your communist feminist moralizers have taught you to control not only people's actions, but their thoughts and their feelings too.

There is only one proper way to think, feel, and act.

Anyone who deviates from the proper moral structure is a heretic.

[BCA6010]

There's exactly nothing wrong with being a character witness as long as it's honest, and I seriously doubt that they had witnessed anything Masterson was accused of. When giving that kind of testimony, you can't twist whatever you have to say based on what someone else is saying that doesn't match your own observations and experience with the defendant.

[Asker]

It's not that bit that is the issue. You only know what you know about your friend. What is the issue is taking it the step further and asking that the judge be lenient in sentencing when you, yourself, go after pedophiles and rapists and sex traffickers with a vengeance, but then when it's your friend, you seemingly turn the blind eye. Ashton was crying in court saying how he has a daughter and he can't imagine her in that situation being trafficked, so why this?

[ManOnFire]

Nah, they want leniency because he's their old bud. They don't care about whether or not his daughter grows up without him. They're just going to get their names sludged now by putting their noses in it. And the slimy Church of Scientology claims they knew nothing about the rapes, but that is most likely a lie. Churches try to cover up sexual assault all the time.

[artgorgeous]

I'm not sure about the story. I think press tend to exaggerate a lot of things and maybe Ashton and Mila knows much more about this guy then the press does. But I wouldn't blame this couple for what they're trying to do because press writes something for attention.

[Asker]

How can the press exaggerate this one. The couple put out a video themselves saying what they did.

[artgorgeous]

Ok, so what is the question? They told the truth about how they perceived the personality of Masterson. Why would they say something different from how they saw this person? You know some people can be very dangerous and commit many crimes while at the same time be the nicest persons within their social circle. What did you expect Mila and Ashton to write? Something bad about the guy to fit the narrative of the sentence? That would be a lie.

[Anonymous]

As someone who has been raped. I was originally defended them because they only knew Danny as their friend and they only saw the good side of him. Since then I'm realising Troper Grace stayed away from the cast and didn't want anything to do them once he left. Makes me wonder if Ashton and Mila knew what happened and stayed quiet. Ashton was even saying comments about how he couldn't wait until Hilary Duff turned 18. Didn't he also tongue kiss Mila when she was 14.

[electromagnetic]

They wrote those letters in private and under the assumption of it staying that way. What he did is wrong but it’s character statements for the person THEY knew. Not the man based off the actions he committed.
People are wrong for dogging them online. It’s makes them look bad although it was meant to be private statements about his character.

[menina]

I was shocked when I read about this. They're completely out of their minds! I understand that a child shouldn't grow up without a parent. But he is a rapist! No child deserves to be raised by a rapist. So, she's better off without him.

They might be friends, but when someone who is your friend does something so cruel and disgusting like rape, you must acknowledge it.

I can see why people are furious. It sounds like he's not practicing what he preaches.

[jennifer_bloom]

I think it’s essential that people acknowledge the value of all peoples needs and not just their inner circle and the bible goes even further, it says if you support an abuser, you will be judged as if you abused the victim yourself. So judges that let murderers go free will be punished as if they murdered people by God.

[OddBeMe]

Ehh, I’m usually ok with friends and family of the convicted giving the judge their opinions of them. His/her job is to judge the person along with the evidence.

But I also don’t blame society putting this dumbass couple through the ringer. Now Ashton is going down in me too flames.

[Sonorous]

I don't really have a strong opinion because I don't know everything about this. I'd only be able to form a feeling about it if I was able to accurately see all sides of it.

[Asker]

Fair enough.

[AviatorTom]

As I understand it, they wrote a letter several weeks ago about his character, as a form of character witness. They never asked the judge for anything.

[Asker]

My issue with this has never been about "the person they used to know." You can only know the person you know when and how you know them." The issue is with them asking for leniency in the sentencing of their friend. If you are someone who is well known to go after people like Masterson who abuse and rape young women and girls, why is it now that its your friend, he deserves leniency?

[DreamLife7]

Exactly

[DreamLife7]

@asker you need to do proper research before making post. They never asked for leniency. They only wrote a letter highlighting his character

[DreamLife7]

Which is still none of your business

[rienna888]

i think it's disgusting. I don't expect much from this couple though, they don't seem like good people. Yeah they can donate all their networth when they die but at the end of the day they don't care and it really shows.

[pethouse]

I don’t really know the story of what happened but I do think they gave him a harsh punishment compared to most. Dudes literally get caught in the act touching children and depending on curtain states they only get hit with a year of jail time.

[pethouse]

Certain*

[Asker]

Isn't that why we need more sentencing like this? That is the very point of why it's important to put these people away so they don't have access to keep hurting people. He brutally raped and drugged 3 women. Look at all the celebrities recently and religious figure heads who have messed with multiple children and women. I always ask people when they hear cases like this, what if this was your mom, your sister...your child....are you cool with their abuser getting 2 years for the pain and trauma your loved ones experience when we talk about what is fair in sentencing?

[DreamLife7]

It's nobodies business but theirs. They know a side of him that others haven't seen. They've known him for 20 years. They're entitled to their opinion

[Asker]

I think a lot of people are confused on this---I have no issue with them telling their truth that they knew Masterson as this kind wonderful person. However, asking for leniency for someone who has raped 3 women---how is that okay. Imagine like your dad asking for leniency for a guy who brutally raped you because he was a good kid 10 years ago?

[DreamLife7]

They've been around him for 20 years. In that 20 years they haven't witnessed him doing such a thing so ofcourae they'd expect leniency because that's not the man they know. Again, their choice it's not your business.

[Anonymous]

I was so disappointed in this. I loved that show and i loved mila kunis and ashton kutcher together. The apology they tried to make was shitty as fuck too.

[Asker]

As I mentioned to someone else...the friend you knew as kind, nice, whatever is fine to remember him as. He obviously did not rape the Kutchers, but when you spend your life going after sex traffickers and crying in court telling judges about how you witnessed little girls in horrible situations and you've been imagining what if that was your daughter...and then, you sit there and write a note asking for a known rapist to get leniency, how does that check? Masterson's daughter needs a far better man in her life other than her father now, teaching her right from wrong.

[exitseven]

Rape trials are not a black and white thing. Maybe he did it and maybe he didn't. These people are trying to support their friend. Maybe they know something the rest of us don't know.

[Anonymous]

Wrong. Rape is a crime and it's not excusable. Hollywood is full of this type of crime so I'm actually not that surprised they would stick up for each other