Ashton Kutcher Weighs in on Danny Masterson Rape Trial

Ashton Kutcher is weighing in on Danny Masterson's rape trial as the That '70s Show star is set to face a jury for the second time in less than two months. In a new interview with Esquire, Kutcher said he wants Masterson "to be found innocent of the charges brought against him" as he faces a retrial. 

"Ultimately, I can't know. I'm not the judge," Kutcher noted. "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." After a pause, he added, "I just don't know." Masterson was charged in June 2020 with three counts of rape from three separate, alleged incidents between 2001 and 2003. His first trial began last year but was declared a mistrial in December amid deadlocked jury deliberations. 

Masterson's second trial on three rape charges is scheduled to begin with jury selection on March 29 in Los Angeles. The actor, who has claimed the sex was consensual in all of the situations in question, faced up to 45 years in prison if found guilty on all three charges in his first trial. 

Kutcher explained that he and Masterson remain in touch and that he often thinks about his longtime co-star's child. "Someday, his kid is going to read about this," said Kutcher, who noted he also wants to be an advocate for anyone who has been a victim of abuse. "I wholesale feel for anybody who feels like they were violated in any way."

Kutcher and Masterson initially starred together on That '70s Show, where the Your Place or Mine star said Masterson was a leader of the young talent. "He's like, 'One f-king rule: Don't do anything f-king stupid and f-k this up. Because if you f-k it up, you f-k it up for everybody,'" Kutcher recalled hearing his co-star say. The two would stay close throughout the sitcom's original run and reunited in 2016 as stars of Netflix's comedy The Ranch, where they played brothers helping to run their father's cattle ranch. Masterson was fired from the series after Season 3 when police began investigating sexual assault allegations against him.