Christina Ricci seems to have called out Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis (Picture: Getty/Instagram)
Christina Ricci appears to have made a dig at Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis after they showed support for Danny Masterson in his rape trial.
The A-list couple came under fire earlier this week when it emerged that they wrote letters as positive character references for Masterson ahead of his sentencing.
Masterson – who starred in That ’70s Show – was initially found guilty of two counts of forcible rape in May, while the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a third count.
Then on Thursday, the 47-year-old was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison over the charges, and will not be eligible for parole until he is 77.
In total, 50 stars and close friends of Masterson’s wrote to the judge sentencing him.
Kutcher, 45, hailed him a ‘role model’, while Kunis, 40, described Masterson’s role as a husband and father as ‘nothing short of extraordinary.’
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The pair later apologised, explaining that their intentions with the letters were not to ‘re-traumatise’ victims.
Despite their apology, the whole situation has left a sour taste in many people’s mouths, with Ricci taking to her Instagram Story with a lengthy message.
The actress, 43, wrote to her 1.6million followers: ‘So sometimes people we have loved and admired do horrible things.
‘They might not do these things to us and we only know who they were to us, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t do the horrible things and to discredit the abused is a crime.’
She went on: ‘People we know as “awesome guys” can be predators and abusers. It’s tough to accept but we have to.
The actress wrote a lengthy statement about ‘believing victims’ (Picture: Instagram)
Ricci appeared to make a dig at the couple’s apology video (Picture: Instagram)
‘If we say we support victims – women, children, men, boys – then we must be able to take this stance.’
Ricci continued in a second post: ‘Unfortunately, I’ve known lots of “awesome guys” who were lovely to me who have been proven to be abusers privately.
‘I’ve also had personal experience with this.’
She concluded: ‘Believe victims.
‘It’s not easy to come forward.
‘It’s not easy to get a conviction.’
Fans immediately started to connect the dots, especially as Kutcher and Kunis declared in their apology video: ‘We support all victims.’
In full, the Punk’d host and Blank Swan actress said: ‘We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson.
‘It’s not easy to come forward’, she wrote (Picture: Raymond Hall/GC Images)
‘We support all victims.
‘We have done this historically through all our work and will continue to do so in the future.’
Explaining the meaning behind their letters, Kutcher went on: ‘A couple of months ago, Danny’s family reached out to us and they asked us to write character letters to represent the person that we knew for 25 years so that the judge could take that into full consideration relative to the sentencing.’
He also said their letters were in no way meant to ‘re-traumatise’ the victims.
‘The letters were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the validity of a jury’s ruling,’ Kunis added.
‘They were intended for the judge to read,’ stated Kutcher. ‘And not to undermine the testimonies of the victims or re-traumatise them in any way. We never want to do that.’
‘We’re sorry that that has taken place,’ he added as Kunis nodded.
Danny Masterson has been sentenced to 30 years to life behind bars for rape (Picture: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
Kutcher and Kunis were among 50 stars who wrote positive character references for him (Picture: Wade Payne/Invision/AP, File)
‘Our hearts go out to every single person who’s ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or rape,’ she concluded.
Despite receiving the positive character references submitted by Masterson’s legal team, the judge sentencing Masterson declined to sentence him to concurrent sentences for each rape conviction.
Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo told Masterson in his sentencing that he is ‘not the victim’.
‘Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s choice and voice,’ she said.
‘Your actions 20 years ago were criminal, and that’s why you are here.’
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Ricci stressed the importance of ‘believing victims.’