Los Angeles: Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have apologised for character letters the celebrity couple wrote on behalf of fellow That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson before he was sentenced for rape this week.
A judge in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women in 2003.
In a video posted on Instagram, Kutcher and Kunis said they were sorry for the pain they may have caused with the letters.
Kutcher said the letters that asked for leniency “were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatise them in any way. We would never want to do that and we’re sorry if that has taken place.”
Kutcher said Masterson’s family approached them after the actor was convicted in the rapes in May and asked them to write character letters describing “the person that we knew for 25 years”. The letters were posted online by The Hollywood Reporter and other digital publications.
Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace in That ’70s Show from 1998 until 2006.
Ashton Kutcher (left) and Danny Masterson at the CMT Music Awards in 2017.Credit: AP
He had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy The Ranch but was written off the show when the police investigation was revealed the following year.
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 defence attorneys.