Ashton Kutcher Leaves His Anti-Child Abuse Charity After Danny Masterson Letter Fallout

Kutcher resigned as the organization's chairman of the board.

By Ashley Turner

Ashton Kutcher is stepping down as chairman of the board at Thorn, the anti-child-sex-abuse prevention organization he founded with his then-wife Demi Moore back in 2009, reports TIME. Mila Kunis, who previously sat on the organization's board as an observer, is also resigning. The move was announced after receiving criticism concerning their letters of support for Danny Masterson, who was convicted of raping two women.

"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," Kutcher wrote to Thorn's board on Sept. 14 in an exclusive letter shared with TIME. "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. "I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve."

Moreover, he apologized for failing to function as a role model for the victims of sexual assault, as well as for letting other advocates down. "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," he wrote to the board. "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. Thank you for your tireless advocacy and dedication to this cause."

The former cast members of That '70s Show and The Ranch, including Kutcher, Kunis wrote letters of support for Masterson in advance of his trial's sentencing. Masterson was found guilty in May of two counts of forcible rape for separate assaults in 2001 and 2003 against two women. Kutcher wrote in his letter that his friend was "an extraordinarily honest and intentional human being," who had helped keep him away from drugs and "always treated people with decency, equality, and generosity." Masterson ended up receiving 30 years to life.

Kutcher, Kunis, and other supporters were met with backlash after the letters made headlines, with significant contempt reserved for Kutcher, in part because he has advocated on behalf of child sex trafficking victims. Through his efforts in running the New York City marathon in 2022, he was able to raise more than one million dollars for the organization. Kutcher and Kunis then released a video in which they explained that they were supporting a friend and did not intend to discredit or retraumatize victims of rape. However, the apology that they tried to offer, "we're sorry if that's happened," only served to stoke further tensions and aggravate the situation.

Thorn, an organization that was initially called DNA (Demi and Ashton) in 2009 and underwent a name change in 2012, seeks to tackle the issue of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) on the internet by using technology. Various tools have been developed to assist law enforcement in identifying the victims and products to help technology companies swiftly remove CSAM. Parents can also access resources to help prevent abuse from taking place.

"To date, Thorn has helped the tech industry remove over 2 million potential child sexual abuse files from the open web helping to end the cycle of abuse and stop revictimization," explains the organization in a statement accepting Kutcher's resignation, as well as requesting their sponsors and partners' continued support in the future, per TIME. "We would not be the Thorn that we are today without Ashton's contributions."

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