Danny Masterson, who played Steven Hyde during the entire eight-season run of the sitcom That '70s Show, was convicted of multiple rapes earlier this year. Last week he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping two women, but prior to that, his co-stars Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis (who are married to each other) wrote letters of support, hoping that the judge would be lenient when it came to sentencing.
Masterson was accused of drugging and then violently raping three women at his home in Los Angeles between 2001 and 2003. One woman said she "didn’t want to live. I remember crying myself to sleep and wishing I would not wake up." She added that Masterson “has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused," and asked the judge to give him a lengthy sentence "for the safety of all women." Another said she can't sleep beside her husband because “I regularly wake up with deep bruises and scratches on my hands and arms. In 2017, I punched a hole in the wall behind my bed during my sleep. I’m always fighting monsters."
Ashton wrote, "I do not believe he is an ongoing harm to society," adding that Masterson treated people "with decency, equality, and generosity."
Mila vouched for Masterson’s "exceptional character and the tremendous positive influence he has had on me and the people around him" in her letter, adding he was "an outstanding role model and friend" and an “exceptional older brother figure."
However, one of the accusers said that years after the rape, Masterson arranged for the son of a friend tell the survivor's young daughter that her mother was a liar and that he hadn't raped her. The little girl came home and asked, "Mommy, what is rape?"
After receiving backlash from their fans, the accusers and other celebrities, Ashton and Mila have apologized in a video on Instagram for the letters. Ashton said, "We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson. A couple of months ago, Danny's family reached out to us and they asked us 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."
Mila explained, "The letters were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the validity of the jury's ruling."
Ashton added that the letters "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.” ~Alexandra Heilbron
The judge in Matheson's case should take in consideration, how long ago this crime happened. If the victims would have cone forward then. There would have only been one rape. He would have been in jail then. How could someone be in such pain and not come forward for twenty years. Matheson is not the same person that he was then. Take that into consideration before sentencing.
Doug McCartney --- He may not be the same person he was 20 yrs ago but trust me --- his rape victims have not been able to move on. They are permanently scarred emotionally due to his life altering rape, battering, and total disregard, disrespect, and lack of caring or compassion for another human being. Good for him if he can move on --- but just put yourself in the shoes & beds of his emotionally crippled victims. I've got the shirt --- got the hat.
Thanks for the mansplaining and victim shaming Doug M. 😬 Now would be a good time to educate yourself on what women have and continue to go through, and the nature of sexual trauma.
@david, i don't know if most accusations are lies or not, and I might suspect one accusation to be doubtful; but not several. He was convicted of raping more than one woman. Where there's smoke, there's most likely fire. @doug: while technically true that if the first victim had come forward, the others may have been kept safe, that's not her responsibility, there's all sorts of valid reasons why victims don't come forward: a major reason is that they'll be accused of being liars, their personal life will be under scrutiny; plus the first victim was a sc13nt0l0g1st: we all know how much pressure that organization exerts to protect their celebrity members. It may have taken a long time for that first victim to overcome brainwashing, then face the real negative consequences of going public. That said: Kutcher has a point that Masterson doesn't seem to be an ongoing present threat: his sentence could have been reduced since he does not appear to have re-offended since the last incident. The other thing that baffles me is the backlash against Kutcher and Kunis: these are not random clueless super-fans, but longtime coworkers and friends who have known Masterson for decades, since they were teens and young adults. I don't know what the public expects in these cases: for friends to just drop someone they know and love cuz they have some terrible character traits among many good ones? Because they were found guilty? Of course not.
I think that Asthon Kusher and his wife should not get themselves in involved if they do not know what really happened I thick he is as guilty as sin and should get the maximum sentence life in prison and he should consider himself lucky that the victums father did not take his life!
gee, jon doe seems like you know the truth so I guess just go on and condem him why wait another minute hes GUILTY JUP jon doe says so all good
yah same, don't you smell maybe money being involved here you know hes on tv so hey why not give it a go, lets try my luck see what happens. hay hay hat so many of these CARAMBA
Yes, you can't have an opinion about someone you've known for years without getting slammed. It's shameful that they apologized for their letters of support for the actor. There are just too many people who are ready to comdemn and trash others because they don't believe the same thing others may believe. Mila and Ashton - you did nothing wrong..... so you shouldn't have apologized.
The victims did report the crimes years ago when it happened but it was covered up. More information is coming out everyday
as I am an older person with the same appendage that a lot of the ones the me too movement exposed is sort of makes ashamed to be a man , The me too movement thing gave the women the power they needed a combined people to say hey a hole this guy has been doing this for decades..yes you write letters of support for your friend , as you see that person in the realm you see them in as Ashton and Mila did So everyone is bashing them for writing a support letter about their friend ..who knows all the hidden secrets of all their friends ?
I am proud of what they did … they might not agree with what he did but if you’re a true friend, you’re there for good and bad times.. it’s very difficult, especially when you have a great relationship with your friend.. we all make mistakes.
Ashton Kusher is an idiot and not a very good actor i might add ,I think he might have ruined the man s chance of ever getting a less sentence .hE KEEP REPEATING THAT THE VICTUM IS NOT A THREAT TO ANYONE BULL SHIT HE IS A THREAT TO EVERY FEMALE HE MEETS IF HE IS GUILTY OF RAPE.OF COURSE HE IS NOT GOING AROUND PUSHING HIMSELF AGAINST EVERT GIRL HE SEES MY PROBLEM WITH HIM IS THAT HE DOES NOT THINK HE DID ANYTHING WRONG WHY, JUST BECAUSE YOU SMOKED A JOINT WITH HIM INBETWEN TAKES OF THAT 70S SHOW DOES NOT NESSESARILY MAKE HIM A GOOD PERSON
Andre, are you saying that violent rape is a mistake? What? Is that a "mistake" you've made? Because anyone who has made that "mistake" is a criminal who should be behind bars.
Let me just spell it out - at 15 yes old I was gang raped by 5 of my brothers friends. Back, pelvis, facial fractures, 11 stab wounds, 6 bullet holes.. yes i "survived" however, at 46 I'm on disability and can no longer be a nurse. So for 4 yes I went to school during the day, worked at night, and raised 2 kids in those 4 years. I am STILL paying for what those guys did to me. I also did not want a trial. I agreed to have attempted murder brought down to felony assault so none of them could be sentenced to death and there wouldn't be a trial. Why? Because, as a rape victim, you are attacked. Again. Your character, your personal life, everything. Every aspect of your life you have to defend. If you report it right away or years later. Doesn't matter. You are attacked again in court and have to defend yourself in every way. I applaud those women for stepping forward and saying they won't be victims any more. Image those women having to watch him on tv. Good job ladies! Stay strong!! ??
I can’t believe a comment, “… if the victim had reported sooner, only 1 rape would have occurred” The women are victims. The rapist is a predator and should have his balls whacked off without pain killers (give him something to remember, just like these traumatized women). He shouldn’t have committed 1 rape. He was caught, went to trail and was convicted. Like the old Barrerta TV show sad ,” If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”…
As someone who was raped a lot by a woman when i was 2-5 and drugged and raped by a man when i was 29 i think Doug Mccartney unless you have been raped i don't think you are qualified to make comments that could easily be construed by victims of rape as extremely cruel and nasty. Many rape victims bury their memories until they are ready to deal with all the emotional, spiritual, mental and physical pain such a heinous act causes.