Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis learned the hard way last year that there is a huge price to pay for speaking out in support of a celebrity friend who’s been implicated in multiple cases of sexual assault.
The couple faced massive backlash in September for writing glowing letters of support for their TV actor friend, Danny Masterson before he was sentenced to 30 years to life after being convicted of two counts of rape. For that reason, Kunis has reportedly urged her husband to avoid any contact with his longtime friend, Sean “Diddy” Combs, the Daily Mail reported.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – MAY 7: (L-R) Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and actor Ashton Kutcher sit courtside at the game between the Boston Celtics and the New Jersey Nets in Game two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2003 NBA Playoffs on May 7, 2003 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Last week, Homeland Security agents raided Diddy’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami, as part of a federal inquiry into sex trafficking allegations against the rapper and hip-hop mogul, the Los Angeles Times reported. Before the raids, the Bad Boy Records founder was named as the plaintiff in multiple lawsuits, accusing him of rape and other instances of sexual violence.
“There is no way in hell Ashton or Mila will be showing any sort of public support for Diddy right now,” a source told the Daily Mail, who added that Kutcher expects he could be subpoenaed by authorities investigating Combs.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – JULY 04: (L-R) Actor Ashton Kutcher, actress Demi Moore and Sean “Diddy” Combs arrive at the White Party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs and Ashton Kutcher to help raise awareness for Malaria No More held at a private residence on July 4, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images)
“Regardless of Ashton’s long history with him, he has distanced himself from Diddy since Cassie’s lawsuit, and even more so in the wake of the new ones,” the source said. “Mila will not let Ashton be in any sort of contact.”
The source is referring to one of the lawsuits, which was filed in November by Combs former girlfriend, Cassandra Ventura, the singer known as Cassie. She accused Combs of rape and repeated physical assaults and alleged that he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes in front of him, the Los Angeles Times reported. The day after Ventura filed the lawsuit, she and Combs reached a settlement, the terms of which have not been disclosed.
According to the Daily Mail, the nature of the allegations against Combs should make Kutcher want to steer clear of his good friend. In September, Kutcher’s own integrity and past behavior came under question after he and Kunis wrote the letters on behalf of Masterson, their friend from when when they all starred together in the TV sitcom, “That ’70s Show,” in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Kutcher hailed Masterson as “a role model,” while his wife extolled his “excellent character” in letters, which reportedly were written after a jury had found him guilty of two attacks that occurred in his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003. When the character letters became public after Masterson’s sentencing, Kutcher and Kunis were accused on social media of perpetrating “rape culture” and of undermining the pain of his victims.
LOS ANGELES – MAY 31: (U.S. TABS OUT) Actor Ashton Kutcher and P. Diddy backstage at The 2003 MTV Movie Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on May 31, 2003 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Media reports also resurrected accounts by Kutcher’s ex-wife Demi Moore about how he cheated on her during their marriage and otherwise treated her callously, while people also questioned his long-time advocacy work on behalf of sex trafficking victims through Thorn, an online nonprofit he and Moore founded to combat online sex trafficking.
As with Masterson, Kutcher’s friendship with Combs is longstanding. Kutcher and Combs appeared together on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” in 2018 to share how Kutcher’s hidden-camera MTV show “Punk’d” — which he hosted from 2003 to 2007 — brought them together.
Combs laughingly recalled, “I gave (Ashton) a call one day and said, ‘I heard you are going to Punk me and I just don’t think that’s a good idea. If you do that that will not end well for you, but I think we should work out a deal.”‘
Meanwhile, Kutcher helped Combs host his infamous, A-list-packed White Party in 2009. Photos show him and Combs posing together with Kutcher’s then-wife Moore.
In 2019, Kutcher appeared on Sean Evans’ YouTube show “Hot Ones” show and talked about how he and Combs “used to hang out and watch football together.” Kutcher also took credit for the friendly competition he enjoyed with Combs, which prompted the rapper to run in the New York City Marathon in 2003. Combs’ run in the marathon was televised as part of a lavish MTV special, Vibe reported. Kutcher said Combs wanted to prove he could finish the 26.2-mile race after he nearly dropped out of a 5K run they previously did together.
“We finish out the run and then he was so upset over the fact that he got skunked on this run that he decided he would run the New York Marathon,” Kutcher said. In 2022, Kutcher ran in his first-ever marathon in New York City and said he was motivated to beat Combs’ 2003 time of 4:14:54, a number Kutcher has memorized, the New York Times reported. “I will be devastating that time,” he said confidently.
Since Kutcher and Kunis wrote their character letters on behalf of Masterson, they have been keeping a low profile around Hollywood, the Daily Mail reported. The Combs investigations and lawsuits may present new problems for them, especially for Kutcher.
“They are in no way about to get sucked into this mess,” the insider said to the Daily Mail. “They are focusing on their family and their marriage and enjoying the low-key home life right now.”
