Ashton Kutcher On Danny Masterson Rape Trial I M Not The Judge I M Not The Jury

Ashton Kutcher wants to believe that his That 70s Show co-star and personal friend Danny Masterson is innocent in his ongoing rape trial. While Kutcher, who starred alongside the defendant on the sitcom from 1998 to 2006, told Esquire in a recent interview that he hopes Masterson will “be found innocent of the charges brought against him,” the actor says that he ultimately can’t know what happened for sure.

“Ultimately, I can’t know. I’m not the judge. I’m not the jury. I’m not the DA. I’m not the victim. And I’m not the accused. And so, in that case, I don’t have space to comment,” Kutcher said.

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Masterson was charged with three counts of rape in 2020 that stemmed from several incidents that allegedly occurred between 2001 and 2003; the actor’s initial trial ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury in 2022. Though the proceedings have been “hard to watch” for Kutcher, who admits he looked to Masterson as a mentor, the actor wants justice if his friend is not, in fact, innocent.

“I wholesale feel for anybody who feels like they were violated in any way,” he adds.

Kutcher Says Masterson Kept Cast ‘Off Drugs and Away From Bad Decisions’

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For Kutcher and the rest of the That 70’s Show cast, the news of the charges against Masterson must have come as a shock. The actor shared a story from the early days on the sitcom set, where the more-experienced Masterson sat his co-stars down for a serious talk.

“He’s like, ‘One fcking rule: Don’t do anything fcking stupid and fck this up. Because if you fck it up, you f*ck it up for everybody,’” Kutcher recounted, referring to Masterson as “the leader” of the show’s young talent—including Mila Kunis, Laura Prepon, Topher Grace, and Wilmer Valderrama—keeping them “off drugs and away from bad decisions.”

Masterson, who is noticeably absent from the series’ Netflix spin-off That 90’s Show, faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty. Though the actor maintains that all the alleged encounters were consensual and has filed to have the upcoming retrial dismissed, it looks like the trial will be proceeding as planned—Deadline reports the second trial will begin with jury selection March 29 in Los Angeles.

Ultimately, Kutcher says he’s thinking about Masterson’s young child, who will one day read everything being said about the actor online.

“Someday, his kid is going to read about this,” he adds.