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Following backlash around his decision to defend convicted rapist Danny Masterson‘s character, Ashton Kutcher has formally stepped down as the Board Chair of Thorn — an organization he co-founded devoted to combating child sex trafficking.
According to a statement shared by Thorn on Friday (Sept. 15), Kutcher resigned through a letter to the organization’s board of directors on Thursday (Sept. 14). The organization acknowledged that the development is “rooted in the recognition of recent events.”
“This decision is rooted in the recognition of recent events and ensuring Thorn remains focused on its mission: to build technology to defend children from sexual abuse.”
In his resignation, Ashton declared that the decision followed “several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors.”
Calling his step-down “the responsible thing to do,” he described his decision to pen the letter as an “error in judgment.”
“I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve.”
More specifically, he shared that writing a character statement for Danny Masterson serves as “another painful instance of questioning victims.”
“As you know, I have worked for 15 years to fight for people who are sexually exploited. Victims of sexual abuse have been historically silenced and the character statement I submitted is yet another painful instance of questioning victims who are brave enough to share their experiences. This is precisely what we have all worked to reverse over the last decade.”
Before noting that he “remain[s] proud” of his accomplishments with Thorn, he reiterated that he was offering a “heartfelt apology.”
“I want to offer my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did.”
As The Shade Room reported, Ashton Kutcher and his wife, Mila Kunis, landed themselves in hot water after character letters they’d made on behalf of Danny Masterson were made public. Meghann Cuniff shared full copies of the letters through Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff.
In Ashton’s letter, he said Danny “set an extraordinary standard around how you treat other people.” He also stated, “Over [our] 20 year relationship I don’t ever recall him lying to me.”
As for Mila, she called Danny Masterson an “exceptional older brother figure” before declaring, “I wholeheartedly vouch for Danny Masterson’s exceptional character.”
It’s also worth noting that Niesha Trout, “one of the victims who [Masterson] was convicted on,” stated that the couple’s letters came “after they read all of the gruesome sworn-under-oath testimony of 5 of Danny’s victims.”
Once the pair began to catch some severe backlash, they addressed the situation in a video. While apologizing, Kutcher and Kunis acknowledged that they “support victims.”
“We support victims. We have done this historically through our work and will continue to do so in the future.”
