Ashton Kutcher addresses That '70s Show costar Danny Masterson's rape trial
Ashton Kutcher has complicated feelings toward his former The Ranch and That '70s Show costar Danny Masterson's ongoing rape trial.
The actor told Esquire that he still keeps in touch with Masterson and that he'd like to see him "found innocent of the charges brought against him." In June 2020, Masterson was charged with "forcibly raping three women in separate incidents occurring between 2001 and 2003." The case was declared a mistrial in November and Masterson, who denies all charges, is set to be retried in March.
Kutcher has been an advocate for victims of sexual abuse. In 2012, he and Demi Moore co-founded Thorn, a technology start-up which aims to prevent online child sexual abuse and sex trafficking. "I wholesale feel for anybody who feels like they were violated in any way," he told Esquire.
He's also aware that the trial will affect Masterson's daughter too, noting, "Someday, his kid is going to read about this."
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Danny Masterson and Ashton Kutcher
Ultimately, it has left Kutcher at a crossroads. "I'm not the judge. I'm not the jury. I'm not the DA. I'm not the victim. And I'm not the accused. And so, in that case, I don't have a space to comment," he said. "I just don't know."
Kutcher and Masterson — alongside Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama, and Mila Kunis — starred opposite one another on That '70s Show for eight seasons. Masterson is the only member of the original cast who did not make an appearance in its Netflix reboot That '90s Show and his character, Steven Hyde, was not mentioned in the series at all.
In addition to That '70s Show, Kutcher and Masterson played brothers Colt and Rooster Bennett on the Netflix sit-com The Ranch, which ran from 2016 to 2020. When rape allegations were first made against Masterson in 2017, he was fired by Netflix and his character was subsequently written off the show.
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