Danny Masterson is about to face sexual assault charges in his second such trial, and his longtime pal and former That 70s Show co-star is finally breaking his painful silence on the alleged encounters. Ashton Kutcher, 44, says he hopes Danny innocent, adding that what he really wants is for Danny “to be found innocent of the charges brought against him.”
“Ultimately, I can’t know,” Ashton told Esquire in an interview published online on January 31. “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 a space to comment. I just don’t know.”
Danny and Ashton famously starred as Hyde and Michael in the wildly successful Fox sitcom, which ran from 1998-2006. Since then, Ashton has married and divorced Demi Moore and married and had children with Mila Kunis, also a former co-star on the show. Danny has married and had children, too — but he’s also had at least three women come forward with allegations of sexual assault over the years. Ashton, once very public about his friendship with Danny, has retreated into silence as the case against Danny progressed.
A source close to Ashton and Mila spoke to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY about the matter back in 2017. “They are monitoring it all and being friends with Danny they never saw this behavior at all from him,” the insider said. “They know a completely different guy from the one that is being alleged to be doing so many horrible things.”
Even years ago, the sentiment seemed to be that Ashton “hoped” it all wasn’t true. “They are keeping close tabs on anything and everything and are there for Danny and obviously hoping that the claims are untrue because the Danny they know is a nice and respectable guy,” the source continued. “They’d be floored if things turn out differently.”
Amid the allegations, which have included forcible rape, Danny was fired from Netflix’s The Ranch that same year. “Danny has slammed the allegations so Ashton and Mila are both hoping for this sad story to turn around with a happy ending,” another source told HL in separate comments at the time.