Current:Home > StocksAshton Kutcher faces backlash for clips discussing underage Hilary Duff, Olsen twins, Mila Kunis -FutureWise Finance
Ashton Kutcher faces backlash for clips discussing underage Hilary Duff, Olsen twins, Mila Kunis
View
Date:2025-04-17 08:53:26
A resurfaced clip of Ashton Kutcher discussing Hilary Duff and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen from his "Punk'd" days is sparking backlash in the aftermath of Kutcher and wife Mila Kunis apologizing for writing letters of support for former "That '70s Show" co-star Danny Masterson.
"She's one of the girls that we're all waiting to turn 18," Kutcher said of Duff in a "Punk'd" episode that aired in October 2003, just after Duff had turned 16.
"Along with the Olsen twins," Kutcher added of the child stars, who were both 17 at the time.
A judge sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life Thursday for the rape of two women. In a character letter dated July 27, 2023, Kutcher described Masterson as a man who treated people "with decency, equality, and generosity," he wrote; Kunis' letter called Masterson "an outstanding role model and friend" and an "exceptional older brother figure." Both asked the judge for leniency in Masterson's sentencing.
On Saturday, Kutcher and Kunis posted a video to Instagram apologizing for causing any pain or trauma for the character letters they wrote for Masterson after his conviction in May.
Kutcher is facing new backlash on social media for the "Punk'd" footage, which was reportedly shared in an Instagram story on Saturday by Chrissie Carnell Bixler, one of Masterson's accusers and an ex-girlfriend. She also called out Kutcher in a separate story: "In my opinion, you're just as sick as your 'mentor.'"
USA TODAY has reached out for additional comment from Kutcher's representatives.
'We support victims':Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis address 'pain' caused by Danny Masterson letters
Ashton Kutcher talks about kissing Mila Kunis when she was a '14-year-old little girl' in resurfaced interview
Another vintage clip that made the rounds over the weekend was from a 2002 episode of Rosie O'Donnell's talk show where Kutcher and Kunis joke around about Kutcher's bet in 1998 with Masterson to "French kiss" Kunis on the set of "That '70s Show" when Kutcher was 19 and Kunis 14. (They married in 2015.)
Their characters were a couple on the sitcom and in the O'Donnell clip, the two actors talk about filming a makeout scene early on in the first season: Kutcher remembers thinking, "Wait, this is slightly illegal, right?" and Kunis admits that it was her first kiss. "Ashton's attractive and I was a 14-year-old little girl and I was extremely scared for my life," she quips. Then she reveals that Masterson told him, "I'll give you $10 if you French kiss her." Kutcher claims he did it but Kunis says, "I didn't let him. I think he tried. … He never got his tongue in my mouth."
One user on X, formerly Twitter, who shared the clip called the bet "literally so disgusting" while another wrote, "Producers should have been arrested."
Christina Ricci tells her fans to 'believe victims,' 'awesome guys' can also be abusers
Shortly after Kutcher and Kunis' video Saturday, Christina Ricci wrote that "sometimes people we have loved and admired do horrible things" to her Instagram story. "They might not do these things to us and we only know who they were to us but that doesn't mean they didn't do horrible things and to discredit the abused is a crime.
"People we know as 'awesome guys' can be predators and abusers. It's tough to accept but we have to. If we say we support victims — women, children, men, boys — then we must be able to take this stance."
Ricci continued in a second story that she's known "lots of 'awesome guys' who were lovely to me who have been proven to be abusers privately" and admitted that "I've also had personal experience with this.
"Believe victims. It's not easy to come forward. It's not easy to get a conviction."
Contributing: Kim Willis, Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
veryGood! (46)
Related
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Federal officials are warning airlines to keep workers away from jet engines that are still running
- Jury awards $3.75M to protester hit by hard-foam projectiles fired by Los Angeles police in 2020
- San Diego Padres reliever Robert Suárez suspended for 10 games using banned sticky stuff
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- Trey Lance trade fits: Which NFL teams make sense as landing spot for 49ers QB?
- Longtime 'Price Is Right' host Bob Barker dies at 99
- Horoscopes Today, August 25, 2023
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- You'll Have a Full Heart After Reading John Stamos' Message to New Mom Ashley Olsen
Ranking
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Boston announces new plan to rid city of homeless encampment, get residents help
- Luis Rubiales vows not to resign as president of Spain's soccer federation
- Woman allegedly kidnapped by fake Uber driver rescued after slipping note to gas station customer
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Flash mob robbery hits Los Angeles mall as retail theft task force announces arrests
- Maui County sues Hawaiian Electric Co. for damages from disastrous fires
- Chicago police are investigating a shooting at a White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field
Recommendation
Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
Lahaina was expensive before the fire. Some worry rebuilding will price them out
Olivia Rodrigo Says She Dated People She Shouldn't Have After the Release of Debut Album Sour
Rangers hire Hall of Fame U.S. women’s star Angela Ruggiero as a hockey operations adviser
Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on plane that crashed, Russian aviation agency says
A Michigan storm with 75 mph winds downs trees and power lines; several people are killed
ECB’s Lagarde says interest rates to stay high as long as needed to defeat inflation