Ashton Kutcher steps down from anti-child-sex-abuse organization after past comments about underage Hilary Duff resurface, controversy of support letter to rapist Danny Masterson



Actor Ashton Kutcher has stepped down as chairman of the board of an anti-child-sex-abuse organization that he co-founded. Kutcher's resignation comes days after controversies swirled around the "Dude, Where's My Car?" actor.

In 2012, Kutcher co-founded Thorn with his then-wife, Demi Moore.

The Thorn website states:

Our co-founders Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore had learned about the issue of child sex trafficking from a documentary highlighting what was happening to children in Cambodia. They describe it as this moment where you learn something about the world that you can’t un-know. As they started learning more, they realized that it is just as prolific of a problem here in the United States as it is overseas.

Thorn claims to have the "first engineering and data science team focused solely on developing new technologies to combat online child sexual abuse."

However, Kutcher announced on Friday that he resigned from his position as chairman of the board of Thorn.

"After my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn, I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately," Kutcher wrote in his letter to the board. "I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve."

"The mission must always be the priority and I want to offer my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did," Kutcher continued. "And to the broader advocacy community, I am deeply sorry. I remain proud of what we have accomplished in the past decade and will continue to support Thorn’s work."

Kutcher's wife, Mila Kunis, also stepped down from her position as an observer on the board, according to Time.

Kutcher has been embroiled in two controversies in the past week.

In May, Kutcher and Kunis wrote letters of support to their former "That 70s Show" co-star Danny Masterson – who, at the time, was on trial for rape charges.

However, Masterson was found guilty of two counts of forcible rape in sexual assaults that allegedly occurred between 2001 and 2003 involving members of the Church of Scientology. This week, Masterson was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Following Masterson's sentencing for the sexual assaults, Kutcher and Kunis issued an apology for writing letters of support for Masterson.

"We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson," Kutcher said in the video with his wife.

Old videos resurfaced in the past week also caused controversy for Kutcher.

In the 2003 video clip from the reality TV show "Punk'd," Kutcher expressed how he was eagerly awaiting then-underage female celebrities Hilary Duff and the Olsen twins to reach the age of 18. At the time of the clip, Duff was 15 years old.

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In another clip from 2002, Kutcher talked about kissing Kunis on "That 70s Show" when she was 14 years old and he was 19.

Kutcher and Masterson allegedly made a bet about French-kissing Kunis.

Kunis recalled, "Danny goes to him and goes, ‘Dude, I’ll give you $10 if you French kiss her.'"

Kutcher added, "And I'm like thinking, ‘This is slightly illegal, right.'"

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In another resurfaced clip, Kunis is sitting on Kutcher's lap for a promo video for the sitcom.

Kutcher said, "And it feels good! And I like it a lot!”

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Leah Remini relieved 'dangerous rapist' Danny Masterson sentenced to prison, slams Scientology as 'multibillion-dollar criminal organization'



Leah Remini – actress and outspoken critic of Scientology – is relieved that "dangerous rapist" Danny Masterson has been sentenced to prison.

Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Thursday. During a retrial in May, the former "That '70s Show" actor was found guilty of two counts of forcible rape in sexual assaults that allegedly occurred between 2001 and 2003. A third rape charge was deadlocked by a hung jury after eight days of deliberations.

Before sentencing, Judge Charlaine Olmedo told Masterson, "You were not convicted based on rumors, innuendo, gossip, and speculation. You were convicted based on evidence that 12 people in the community found to be credible. … You were convicted because each of the victims reported the rapes to someone shortly after the rapes occurred."

Legal Affairs journalist Meghann Cuniff reported, "Olmedo also mentioned that Masterson paid one of his victims nearly $1 million to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which she said 'is an awful lot to pay' for an incident you claim never happened."

Following the sentencing, Masterson's legal team said they plan to appeal due to "substantial" errors.

"We are very disappointed in the sentence the judge handed down today. However, for the past several months, a team of the top appellate lawyers in the country has been reviewing transcripts of the trial. They have identified a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues which they will address in briefs to both the state and federal courts," Shawn Holley, Masterson's attorney, told reporters.

Masterson, 47, was convicted of raping two women – both former members of the Church of Scientology.

One victim told the courtroom, "I didn’t choose to be born into Scientology and their rules, just like I didn’t choose to be raped by Danny Masterson."

"Prosecutors had said Scientology officials protected the actor for years after he drugged and sexually assaulted the women, who were also Scientologists but have since left the church, in three separate incidents between 2001 and 2003," according to HuffPost.

Vanity Fair reported that Masterson has been a Scientologist all his life and that his mother, Hollywood talent agent Carol Masterson, has been a member of the church for many years.

Remini was at the sentencing along with "women who survived Danny Masterson's predation."

The actress said of Masterson, "I am relieved that this dangerous rapist will be off the streets and unable to violently assault and rape women with the help of Scientology, a multibillion-dollar criminal organization with tax-exempt status."

"For over two decades, Danny Masterson avoided accountability for his crimes," Remini said in a statement. "While Danny was the only one sentenced, his conviction and sentence are indictments against Scientology, its operatives, and its criminal leader, David Miscavige."

The star of "The King of Queens" continued, "Scientology managed to cover up Danny's crimes with the help of its intelligence agency, the Office of Special Affairs, top 'church' officials like Kirsten Caetano Pedersen and Julian Swartz, its network of media-hungry unethical attorneys, private investigators, agents, and civilian Scientologists who engaged in a conspiracy to cover up crimes of sexual violence."

Remini said of the victims, "These women not only faced the living hell of being raped, having their rapes covered up by the very organization that promised to protect them, but they have also faced ruthless and criminal harassment by Scientology and its agents since they came forward to law enforcement."

Remini was a young child when she was brought into Scientology after her mother converted. The 53-year-old actress left the L. Ron Hubbard-created organization in 2013.

In 2016, she produced and co-created the documentary series "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath." The docuseries won three Emmy awards.

In August, Remini sued the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, for stalking, defamation, and using "mob-style operations and attacks" to harass her and other ex-members of the organization.

The Church of Scientology called Remini’s lawsuit "ludicrous" and "pure lunacy."

Masterson appeared on "That '70s Show" until 2006. In 2016, he was starring in the Netflix comedy "The Ranch" with Ashton Kutcher. However, he was written off the show in December 2017 after multiple allegations of rape.

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