Why are Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis being "cancelled"?

Most of us thought that "rock bottom" for celebrity couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher had been that one time they publicly claimed they were against taking a shower every day. But now, it appears that the hole has been dug way deeper.

Recently, everywhere one looks on social media will most probably encounter a post or tweet or video regarding the current "cancelling" of That '70s Show co-stars and celebrity couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. Both stars are being put under fire for defending rapist Danny Masterson, who was charged with 30 years to life in prison on the 7th of September, 2023, for forcibly raping 2 women.

Early this month, letters written by celebrity couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher in an attempt to reduce Masterson's sentence have been leaked to the general public. Before a criminal sentencing, it is customary for a judge to solicit letters from friends and family of the convict, and among those who wrote letters in support of Masterson's character and asking for leniency regarding his sentence were Mila and Ashton. The three were co-stars on That '70s Show, airing in the late '90s and early 2000s, and have continued to be close friends ever since. The content of the letter shows the couple vouching for their friend, claiming he is an "extraordinarily honest and intentional human being" and "nothing but a positive influence".

Apparently, though, the letters didn't seem to have much influence on Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo, who sentenced Masterson to a full 30 years, saying: "Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person's choice and voice. Your actions 20 years ago were criminal, and that is why you are here". After the leaking of the letters, people were enraged to see both Ashton and Mila undermining Danny's actions and claimed they were being "insanely hypocritical" due to their involvement in the anti-sex-abuse organisation Thorn (which Kutcher co-founded in 2009). While Kutcher did resign from his position on the board of Thorn after the leaking of the letters, and both he and Kunis published an apology video on the internet, fans were still frustrated with the stars' behaviour having defended a rapist while claiming to support all victims of sexual assault and violence.

While that may already seem like a lot, it doesn't stop there. All this talk of Mila and Ashton's letters inspired one of Masterson's victims, Chrissie Bixler, to post a story on her Instagram account which read: "Dear Ashton, I know the secrets your "role model" (Danny) keeps for you. Ones that would end you. Did you forget I was there? You were on speakerphone that night you called Danny on February 21, 2001. I heard everything. I heard the plan. In my opinion, you're just as sick as your "mentor"." This suspicious and mysterious statement led spectators to research the date of February 21st, 2001, and found some not so great information regarding Kutcher as well.

It is now known that, on the night of February 21st, 2001, Ashton was headed to 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin's house to pick her up for a date. In his initial version of events which he testified to the police, he arrived, knocked on the door, heard no answer, and after a few minutes, decided to leave. As it turns out, Ashley hadn't answered the door because she had been brutally murdered in her own home by a serial killer who was eventually locked up after having committed several crimes in the area. The suspicious part for Ashton came when the police concluded that up until the point that the actor had supposedly gone up to Ashley's doorstep, it was impossible for him not to have seen Ashley's blood all over the home through the window. When confronted with this information, the actor claimed he thought it was "spilled wine". Pretty suspicious again, if you ask me. Ashton, fearing to taint his name as an up-and-coming actor, even went to the police on the day after the murder had been announced feeling scared since his fingertips were on the doorknob of the house, and he by no means wanted to be considered a suspect in this case.

Now, how does all this relate to Chrissie Bixler's statement on her Instagram story? Well, many believe that (even though he testified otherwise) after having noticed Ashley had been attacked when arriving at her home, Ashton called Danny Masterson (while he was with Chrissie) who advised him on the best way to evade the police and distance himself as much as he could from the situation to protect his name. In retrospect, their plan obviously worked out, since all this information had been brushed under the rug until 20 years later. In the same story, Bixler also sent a message to Mila, saying: "I know what happened in Toronto and after". While no one knows really what she meant by this, it can be reasonably predicted that the information will come out sooner rather than later, since the internet has now been consistently revisiting Ashton's old interviews and finding more about his mysterious past by the day since the scandal erupted.

For now, that's all the information we have out in the open. As for Ashton and Mila, many are saying their careers will never properly come back from this, and their household name has been tainted forever. Now, we can only wait to see if more information will be released regarding this mysterious encounter in Toronto and more.