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Ashton Kutcher faces backlash for clips discussing underage Hilary Duff, Olsen twins, Mila Kunis
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Date:2025-04-12 12:48:03
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
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