After a week from hell where their loyalty to convicted rapist friend Danny Masterson caused a furious backlash in Hollywood, insiders say Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis’ already delicate eight-year marriage is hanging by a thread.
The married couple wrote letters of support to an LA judge after Masterson, 47, was found guilty in May of raping two women in 2003 but before he was handed his 30-year sentence on September 7.
“Mila blames Ashton, as she was against getting involved in Danny’s case in the first place, and it’s turned into the worst possible scenario,” an insider tells Woman’s Day.
“They’ve got the spotlight on them for all the worst reasons and there doesn’t appear to be a way out of it.”
In the gushing letters, Ashton, 45, wrote that Masterson was “nothing but a positive influence on him” and a “role model”, while Mila, 40, described him as an “amazing friend, confidant and, above all, an outstanding older brother figure to me”.
Actor, Danny Matterson during his retrial where he was found guilty of rape.
(Credit: Getty)Backlash begins
The day before the letters were made public, Sharon Osbourne blasted Ashton as a “rude, rude, rude, rude little boy” and “a dastardly little thing” in an unrelated interview, and the backlash only continued against him and Mila.
The couple were among 50 people who spoke to Masterson’s “exceptional character” in a bid for leniency.
In a video on Instagram, Ashton and Mila apologised for the “pain” they caused by supporting their friend, saying they were intended for the judge to see “the person that we knew for 25 years” and “not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatise them”.
Mila added, “We support victims. We have done this historically through our work and will continue to do so.”
The couple have worked to help put an end to child sex trafficking, but that connection has only seen some criticise them for their “hypocrisy”.
Ashton and Danny are known to be quite close friends.
(Credit: Getty)Yellowjackets star Christina Ricci, who has long been a staunch advocate against domestic abuse and sexual harassment, also seemed to call out the couple.
“People we know as ‘awesome guys’ can be predators and abusers. It’s tough to accept but we have to,” the 43-year-old wrote on Instagram.
Dark secrets
On social media, actress Chrissie Carnell Bixler blasted Ashton for supporting Masterson, who she dated for six years from 1996. She was one of the Scientologist’s three accusers, but her charge resulted in a hung jury.
Speaking to Ashton, Chrissie claimed she knows the “secrets” Masterson is keeping for him, and even referred to the murder case of Ashton’s then-girlfriend Ashley Ellerin, whose body was found with 47 stab wounds in 2001.
Mila tells Ashton ‘You’ve ruined us!’
(Credit: Getty)Serial killer Michael Gargiulo was later convicted of the crime and there is no suggestion Ashton was in any way involved.
Chrissie also implored Mila to rethink her relationship with Masterson.
“If that’s what you view as a normal relationship with a ‘big brother figure’, then I feel very sad for you,” she wrote.
Chrissie then posted a series of old clips in which Ashton made questionable comments about a then-15-year-old Hilary Duff, and Mila telling how Ashton and Masterson had made a “side bet” to “French kiss” her during one of their scenes when she was 14.
The insider says seeing their past behaviour dredged up has Mila “mortified”, not least because their daughter Wyatt, eight, is nearing that age.
Mila was 14 while Ashton was 19 when they started their on-screen relationship.
(Credit: Fox Studios)“Mila is seeing the whole situation in a different light – back then, she thought she was so mature, but she was just a kid,” says the source.
As the fallout continues, things remain tense in the Kutcher-Kunis household.
“The marriage has been touch and go for some time, but not many friends think they’ll survive this,” the insider adds.
Following the backlash, the couple have now stepped down from the board of Thorn, the charity Kutcher and ex-wife Demi Moore set up to tackle child sexual abuse in 2012.
On the organisation’s website, Kutcher announced he would resign as chair immediately along with Kunis resigning as an observer.
