After writing letters requesting mercy for his former “That ’70s Show” co-star and convicted rapist, Danny Masterson, Ashton Kutcher and wife Mila Kunis resigned from their positions as chairman of the board and vice chairman of the nonprofit they co-founded to combat child sex abuse.
On Thursday, Kutcher announced his resignation from the board of Thorn, a charity he co-founded with his then-wife Demi Moore in 2009.
In a letter to the board, Kutcher stated, “After my wife and I spent several days listening, reflecting on my own life, learning, and conversing with survivors and the staff and leadership at Thorn, I have decided the responsible thing for me to do is to resign as Chairman of the Board, effective immediately. “I cannot allow my oversight to undermine our efforts or the children we serve,” she said.
On September 7, a court in Los Angeles sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in jail. The actor was found guilty of raping two women in 2003, while he was a star of the Fox vintage sitcom “That ’70s Show” with Kutcher and Kunis.
Kutcher, Kunis, and many other celebrities wrote letters to the judge that were made public the day following the punishment. According to Kutcher, Masterson has a history of treating people “with decency, equality, and generosity.”
The next day, Kutcher and Kunis expressed regret for the letters in an Instagram video, saying they “were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatize them in any way.”
As initially reported by Time magazine, Kutcher wrote in his resignation letter that he extended “my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did.”
