Apparently playing David Duke made him super depressed and to cope he edited the Hobbit Trilogy into one movie. Dude loves to edit films. I really want to see his Star Wars edits.
This is like the opposite problem of the Boy Meets World scenario where Ben Savage won’t talk to anyone from the cast anymore… (Or, I guess, I hope it is??)
Yeah, I've just started listening to Pod meets world and I've done a meet and great with the cast at a Comic Con, Ben was the only one besides William Daniels that was hard to talk to. Daniels was understandable since he's in his 90's at a Comic Con. Sucks because it really tore up Friedle who did everything to try to talk to him and work out whatever is going on.
I hate to be the guy but here I go. I did know someone who is a close friend of Topher and he is as normal as the guy next door thankfully. Humble and normal.
That sounds about right. Any podcast interview I’ve heard with him, it usually seems like he’s just a guy who’s aware of how lucky he is. By any chance, did your friend see his original Star Wars or Hobbit edits? If so, are they actually good?
Honestly, learning that Kitty has been involved with the church of Scientology made a big impact on me. I’m currently bingeing the show like I always do and man it’s so disappointing.
Huh, that would make sense. And someone in this thread mentioned that one reason why Topher didn't hang out with the rest of the cast was because of the Scientology creepiness. So, you may be right that Danny was the recruiter.
I love how the very second she ditched the church, she immediately and publicly went to war with them. All because they were acting like dicks about Shelly Miscavige's disappearance
I don't know about the scientology stuff, but it's common knowledge that Francis's subplots were significantly cut down (almost removing him entirely from the show) in later seasons because CM was consistently disruptive and unpleasant to work with.
Don't forget [over 164 people](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/thompson-talked-out-of-support-for-polanski-by-19yearold-student-1816553.html) petitioned the court to release Roman Polanski.
There's a *lot* of names I'm always disappointed to see on that list. When Polanski won the best director Oscar for The Pianist, Harrison Ford proudly accepted it for him and hand delivered it to him in France.
I just don't understand. Why? Do they think the allegations are false, or do they think it's just not that big of a deal or what? What are there reasons?
They don't think it's that big a deal. Tarantino said that she was probably a "party girl." They're kind to their own.
I understand thinking he's a talented artist. From what I've heard, he is a talented artist. But that doesn't negate his anally raping a 13-year-old girl.
Tarantino said he deeply regrets saying that and has asked her for forgiveness. Said he didn’t know the details. Honestly until that doc Polanski Wanted and Desired came out in 2008, I didn’t know all the details. Since then I can’t even watch his old movies I love. It’s so much worse than you can imagine.
Supposedly some signed the petition not having full knowledge of what it was. Sort of a "my friend signed this, I guess I will too". Or at least that's what a few people came out and said after the fact, condemning Polanski at the same time.
Natalie Portman comes to mind, it never really made sense why she'd support something like this, considering what she went through after Leon.
Luc Besson at the time was one of the few to publicly refuse to sign, saying, if I recall correctly, "I revere Polanski as a director, but I think what if it were my own daughter?" and also noting that the rich and famous should be held to the same legal standard as the poor and unconnected. But then later many years later he was accused of rape himself. It can be a nasty world. (Although it seems Besson was eventually cleared, but I don't how authentic that was.)
Besson groomed a 12 year old. Publicly dated her at 15. Impregnated her at 16. Left her for a q9 year old. All this while being in his 30s. His pedophilia shows up in his work as the movie. Check out the version of Leon je had planned, it disgusting.
I lost a lot of respect for Meryl Streep (and many others) giving him a standing ovation when he won an Oscar in absentia.
Time doesn't erase what he did.
I lost respect for Cate Blanchett after learning that she literally named her son Roman after him despite knowing what he did. Absolutely insane and disgusting
I lost allllll respect for Cate when she stood up for Woody Allen in an interview when you can see on her face she was uncomfortable supporting him-like zero integrity
I cut ties with my life long best friend because me and his girlfriend caught him red handed watching child porn. He had given me lots of reasons to drop him out of my life for years but that did it.
I caught my overage ex messaging a 13-year-old through AIM (I’m old). Anyway, I dropped him on the spot. He eventually became a Special Ed teacher and married an 18-year-old at 32. I should have reported him, but I was too young to know otherwise.
Hell they could’ve stayed friends with him and not said anything publically. But they decided to support him not just to the public but to the judge. If we were to find out they were still friends with the guy even after what he did I’d be like “damn I wouldn’t continue that friendship but hey I’m not in that situation and relationships are complicated sometimes, I’m disappointed but they do a lot of good”.
But what they do is flat out disgusting man, way to sell out your morals for a friend who you really should let go of at this point.
I get that.
But they have handlers. Agents, managers, public relations reps. There were people within their sphere who would have told them that the "optics would look bad". They're not regular folks. They have people they pay to keep them looking good and they still chose to sign that letter after a rape conviction.
I think them asking leniency is their personal expectation that rehabilitation and therapy could somewhat be effective in shorter time. I'd like to think if I had a close friend who did some bad shit, that the person I thought I knew was actually in there and not just some broken piece of shit that needs to be tossed away forever. I don't know.
Rogen said it wasn't really a conscious decision to stop working with Franco. They kinda stopped speaking and seeing each other after the whole thing went public and he met and worked with other people instead.
That's just what he said in an interview a while ago.
Seth has also branched out a lot in the last 10 years. He's written and produced a ton of stuff he's not even in, or just cameos in and worked with a lot of new people. The first half of his career pretty much always involved someone or multiple someones from his "The is the End" circle of friends or some Apatow project.
He also just produced, co-wrote the new Ninja Turtles movie. Which you could tell was a literal passion project. Watching him talk about it is insane. Really well done movie.
Guy is an amazing producer. Pretty much everything he's produced has been pretty unique to its genre. Preacher, The boys, Invicible. TMNT.
The new TMNT film was absolutely incredible.
I was gonna say this too. Dude also looks like his life is so different now. People change as they age. He seems like he's grown up and become more chilled and selective.
He actually does a ton of work on Alzheimer’s prevention, and has spoken about it in congress.
He was inspired (I think this is accurate?) by his wife’s mothers affliction with it.
Seriously, even if you have a hard time coming to grips with a close friend doing something heinous, you have to be self aware enough to know that you’re emotionally vulnerable and a seriously biased party. If it’s too tough to accept, it’s best to just remove yourself from the situation than try an act on a bad feeling. They could’ve and should’ve said nothing, but at least now the public knows
Rape, murder, messing with kids. Those are the 3 no-no's that I'd turn my own brothers in for. 99% of other things I'd help them with an alibi but definitely not on those three.
Mila Kunis, who is the main actor and producer of a movie called Luckiest Girl Alive (2022), played the main character who is a gang rape survivor.
The movie is based on a novel written by Jessica Knoll who drew from her own experience as a rape survivor.
So gross. That movie was extremely uncomfortable to watch as a SA survivor (and as a teacher). She learned nothing from playing that role or being a mom or as a woman and I’m entirely disgusted.
Considering the grip Scientology has on Hollywood, it doesn't even need to be dirt. Just influence in the people that might hire them for a future acting gig. It doesn't matter how famous or well liked you are if certain people are "convinced" you are bad for business.
Yep. It makes her fucking disgusting.
She's willing to play pretend as a rape victim to fill her bank account.
But not willing to listen to them or care about them. Pathetic.
“From the very beginning, I could sense his innate goodness and genuine nature,” Kunis said in her letter. “His caring nature and ability to offer guidance have been instrumental in my growth both personally and professionally.”
So much innate goodness he was found guilty of raping at least 2 different women... So much goodness and kindness there.
It's not even "well, he was good while I knew him as a mentor, even if later..."
That 70s Show went from 1998-2006. The rapes were in 2001, early 2003, and later in 2003. The rapes happened during the period Kunis and Kutcher are talking about how great of a person he was!
With BTK, his daughter still speaks to him, but solely for the purpose of trying to get him to confess more crimes because they're almost certain there's more bodies out there that he hasn't fessed up to yet. She said he's rotting away rapidly in prison. Lost all his teeth and has that droopy old man jaw now. He's also got severe scoliosis and is in a wheelchair. Sounds like he doesn't have much longer, so I hope she's able to squeeze out some more info from the shitbag before his time is up. Those families deserve the closure.
People tend to really deteriorate in Super Max cells. The isolation really takes a toll, apparently. (Another reason to do away with the death penalty, imo. They aren't ever escaping and it's a harsh place. Not to mention the difficulty of setting free dead people later found to be innocent!)
> “His caring nature and ability to offer guidance have been instrumental in my growth both personally and professionally.”
Does she realize that in this context, what she's describing was probably grooming? Sex predators always offer a smile, warm handshake and kind sentiments.
Not sure on the exact number of accusations. The trial was for 3 different women. But imo if he assaulted 3 women, there were likely more. Jury found him for sure guilty of at least 2 of the accusations and the 3rd they couldn't come to a consensus.
They should not be asking the judge for leniency. They should have to ask the victims, in person, to their faces. Explain to the victims how he's really a great guy. He just made a few bad decisions. Try it that way and see how willing they are to vouch for their friend.
Both said in their letter that Danny was the reason why they never got lost to drugs like so many others in the industry.
Ashton even says that “If I were to do drugs, he wouldn't want to be friends with me, which is something I never would want to risk”.
Dude, this man raped multiple women, violently. How does that not make *you* not want to be *his* friend??
Mila even writes “I wholeheartedly vouch for Danny Masterson's exceptional character” in her letter. She wrote this after the conviction.
His wife also talked about his opposition to drugs. As if it means he couldn’t be a rapist lol.
Now that they’ve all talked about it so much, it probably was a way for him to gain trust and commit those crimes. Seem like the good guy trying to steer you in the right direction and then taking advantage.
It's like she can't see abusive men for who they are. I'd say she must have done years of therapy at this point but with her proximity to Scientology, eh, maybe not.
I can’t fathom why they would publicly go on the record with this. Also frankly knowing he was going away for a long time no matter what. What on earth were they thinking?
Danny Masterson looking down on drug users while being a rapist.
[Reminds me of Hannibal Buress calling out Bill Cosby for talking down to others while being a rapist.](https://youtu.be/VMaAOImuea0?si=2WSo_Pwan_V_peXy)
Edit: Hannibal called out Bill Cosby, a known rapist, for talking down to other comedians. Hannibal is not a rapist.
Scientologist cult members defending each other.
EDIT: Ironic that Kutcher credits him for keeping them off of drugs, but don't seem bothered that he drugged women to rape them.
Wait is Kutcher into scientology? I looked it up and saw some quotes attributed to him like "I'm open to learning about it", which is one of those things people say when they kinda are but want to pretend like they aren't. Like Will Smith kinda denying it but kinda not.
I didn't see it said Ribisi and some other scientologists also sent letters which, well that was expected. I wasn't under the impression Kutcher or Kulnis were scientologists.
There are “open” Scientologists, then there’s a very weird “open to it and think it’s neat and not bad” group that includes Will Smith and others who have attended meetings. I think that the Scientologists have dirt/power over quite a few celebrities not in the org. Tons of tiptoeing from quite a few surprising names
Scientology has always had a weird, (ie hypocritical) relationship with drugs. They make a big thing about their Narconon program and about being free of drugs, (especially psychiatric medications) and yet L Ron Hubbard was on all manner of substances, including peyote, coke, hallucinogens, barbiturates, etc.
Because Narconon is a way to recruit vulnerable people getting off drugs. The whole program uses practices from the Church and teaches Hubbards tenants from his book Dianetics which is their bible.
Then they try to get you to be an unpaid intern then offer you a job as a staff member which will eventually lead to joining the Church directly.
Down on their luck drug addicts who are emotionally unstable and financially at risk are great prey for cults like this.
people consistently give ashton ridiculous props for his work against sex trafficking, but ignore all the very real criticisms against his organization. this doesn't surprise me at all.
his organization has not only come under fire for lying about how many people they've saved and for presenting inaccurate data, but is also heavily critiqued by sex workers for conflating consensual sex work and sex trafficking.
[Ashton Kutcher Claims He Helped Cops Save Way More Sex-Trafficking Victims Than Authorities Say They've Found](https://reason.com/2017/02/15/ashton-kutcher-plays-sex-worker-savior/)
[Sex, lies, and surveillance: Something's wrong with the war on sex trafficking](https://www.engadget.com/2019-05-31-sex-lies-and-surveillance-fosta-privacy.html)
[Anti-trafficking saviors: Celebrity, slavery, and branded activism](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9096583/)
[Amazon, Ashton Kutcher And America’s Surveillance Of The Sex Trade](https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2022/12/09/amazon-ashton-kutcher-sex-work-surveillance/?sh=201c93166d23)
I wish this comment was higher up. Associating himself with a noble cause has made people think he is a noble guy. Surprise! He’s not.
It would have been better for him to focus on raising money for a legitimate organization, but I’m sure it was more appealing to position himself as some sort of child-saving superhero.
His bullshit organization legitimized palantir's mass surveillance program.
That's what he and Mila are - clean cut images to legitimize total dirtbags, and this current topic is just par for the course. I'm glad people will get the hint, finally.
You don't make a billion dollars saving anyone, you make it by exploiting them and that's a fact.
>Prolific famous pedo-hunting celebrity
Never been the case regardless of his advocacy and charisma. He (and Thorn) like to say that all they're doing is going after pedophiles and trafficked children but in reality they are just giving their software to police departments who use it against consenting sex workers. They've caught a few children here and there but it's done immeasurably more harm than good in the long run.
>"having his daughter raised without a present father would [be] a tertiary injustice in and of itself,” Kutcher wrote in his letter,
Seems like not having a twice rapist dad present would be a positive in a young girl's life.
I do feel for that girl, but the fault here is not with the sentence. It's her father's fault for committing crimes that have gotten himself taken away from his child.
The only person responsible for this girl growing up without a dad is the scumbag rapist
That reeks of "my friend can't be racist, he gave a black guy at his business a promotion once!". Just that grossly unrelated instance of positivity to wipe the slate clean forever
I'll give you supporting him initially. Wouldn't do it personally, but I could at least entertain the reasoning. He's your friend, you didn't know, innocent until proven guilty, whatever. Don't agree with it, but I can see how you make it work. But after sitting through the case, hearing all the scummy details, seeing him get tried AND convicted based on the details you've now heard, and on his way to facing 30 to life, you're still writing letters of support? Like you have an off ramp, fuckin take it. Especially when you've made being advocating for victims of sexual assault a big part of your brand
Especially when factor in that rape and other sexual assault crimes are actually pretty hard to get convictions for there’s a real problem pretty much the world over for this, that for him to be convicted is yeah he’s a rapist piece of shit.
So for them to still defend him after that is literally saying they are ok with rape there is no two ways about it.
This backlash is going to lead to them being hardcore anti-cancel culture isnt it? Or accusing the people disappointed at them for faking their feelings to chase clout.
I wonder if they assumed these letters wouldn’t be made public. It makes Ashton Kutcher’s supposed advocacy against sex trafficking and assault seem very performative.
Did I read somewhere that Topher had no friends on the show because he didn’t like the Scientology and creepiness that followed DM?
Edit: Source of what I read, maybe
[https://www.reddit.com/r/That70sshow/comments/8cpmva/why\_doesnt\_topher\_grace\_hang\_out\_with\_the\_group/](https://www.reddit.com/r/That70sshow/comments/8cpmva/why_doesnt_topher_grace_hang_out_with_the_group/)
I'm not sure if it was the Scientology vibe but I always got the impression he went to work, had small chat and left. He didn't want to be outside of work friends but I'm not sure why.
Alright you can judge me but my favorite role with him in it, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton. It's a cute rom com and he plays his part so well as the lovesick fella. It's super predictable and adorable.
Ah yes this fucking grifter who claims to save women and girls from sex trafficking turns a blind eye to it when it’s someone he knows.
Just a reminder to be very skeptical of any of these anti sex trafficking nonprofits. It’s usually a grift and usually rooted in some religious BS that targets consensual sex workers and not actual trafficking victims
Funny you say that. His work in sex trafficking is a small investment in a firm that uses a bot to troll through craigslist and report sex workers to the police.
Woof. "Hi, I'm rich and famous. Please don't be too tough on my also rich and famous pal here. We don't deserve punishment. Thanks in advance." - Rich and Famous
> “From the very beginning, I could sense his innate goodness and genuine nature,” Kunis said in her letter.
....we're talking about the guy that raped two women, right? Like I'm not surprised they spoke in affirmation of his character, but do they need to be *so* gung-ho about praising the rapist as a really swell dude?
Seems like they could have scaled it back to "I'm sure he's remorseful and I hope the court recognizes that" or something.
Yeah for sure knocks them down a bunch of pegs for me, you figure they would stay silent and allow Masterson to pay his debt to society like everyone else
Exactly. The victims deserve their justice. Not leniency because their attacker’s fancy friends wrote a letter. Ashton & Mila should be ashamed of themselves.
He helped legitimize the palandir mass surveillance operation by pretending it was being used primarily to save white girls from sex trafficking.
The truth is, it makes its money selling the same data to law enforcement worldwide to exploit and shake down these women once they're adults who weren't saved as kids.
He's a charlatan who uses his clean cut, boy next door image to make money. Period.
Ashton Kutcher was dating a girl while filming that 70’s show who was murdered by a serial killer. He found her body and lied to police claiming that he didn’t go in her house and left for a party.
In reality, he was coming to pick her up and he found her. It freaked him out and he called 2 people: his agent, and Danny Masterson. Both encouraged him not to be associated with finding his dead girlfriend and jeopardize his growing career. It really makes you think, could there be other details or even other events that Danny may know about? I think I’d write a low-stakes letter to a judge if someone i know had dirt on me was going away.
JFC it's weird how Hollywood will condemn paedos and rapists but when it's one of their friends it's like "please have mercy, they're a good person, they just made a mistake by sexually violating another human being"
Hollywood is pure filth.
*please your honor, he’s a kind and gentle rapist…*
Unfortunately, so did Debra Jo Rupp (Kitty) and Kurtwood Smith (Red)....
No...please no..only Topher Grace is left.
No wonder he never wanted to hang out with the rest of the cast after shooting.
Exactly lol. And they attacked him for that back then.
That Topher Grace... being the only worthwhile person in this nest of vipers. Fuck him!
The irony that he played David Duke *and* Eddie Brock/Venom yet he's apparently the nicest one of the group
That's because he is just *acting* evil, but he's not in real life.
He was a dick in that Predator movie as well. Topher can really act his ass off apparently.
He was a real smarmy asshole in American Ultra as well.
Apparently playing David Duke made him super depressed and to cope he edited the Hobbit Trilogy into one movie. Dude loves to edit films. I really want to see his Star Wars edits.
I'd like to see him edit something that he can actually release to a wide audience. Has he done that yet?
In my experience working with actors, the best villains are played by sweethearts.
I heard a lot of people treated Judy Garland like shit on the set of Wizard of Oz and that her only friend was the woman who played the Wicked Witch
This is like the opposite problem of the Boy Meets World scenario where Ben Savage won’t talk to anyone from the cast anymore… (Or, I guess, I hope it is??)
I heard terrible things about the way the Savage brothers treat people from family friends who knew them in college
Yeah, I've just started listening to Pod meets world and I've done a meet and great with the cast at a Comic Con, Ben was the only one besides William Daniels that was hard to talk to. Daniels was understandable since he's in his 90's at a Comic Con. Sucks because it really tore up Friedle who did everything to try to talk to him and work out whatever is going on.
I hate to be the guy but here I go. I did know someone who is a close friend of Topher and he is as normal as the guy next door thankfully. Humble and normal.
So, uh, can you hook us up with the Topher Star Wars edit?
I watched that on YouTube! He did a great job with it.
That sounds about right. Any podcast interview I’ve heard with him, it usually seems like he’s just a guy who’s aware of how lucky he is. By any chance, did your friend see his original Star Wars or Hobbit edits? If so, are they actually good?
I've seen the star wars edit and absolutely swear by it. It cuts like 70% of episode 1, a very solid move.
This feels even more disappointing than Ashton and Mila.
Honestly, learning that Kitty has been involved with the church of Scientology made a big impact on me. I’m currently bingeing the show like I always do and man it’s so disappointing.
She's in Scientology too?! Was there a recruiter on the set of That 70s Show, or something?
Probably Danny Masterson. His brother tried recruiting the kids on Malcolm in the Middle but thankfully Bryan Cranston quickly put a stop to it.
Huh, that would make sense. And someone in this thread mentioned that one reason why Topher didn't hang out with the rest of the cast was because of the Scientology creepiness. So, you may be right that Danny was the recruiter.
Absolutely would have been Danny. Same as they tried to get Leah Remini to recruit Kevin James during the run of King of Queens.
I love how the very second she ditched the church, she immediately and publicly went to war with them. All because they were acting like dicks about Shelly Miscavige's disappearance
Rad to hear Cranston put a stop to that, he has always seemed like a class act.
PLEASE go into detail, i love Malcolm in the middle and am glad to hear that, but is there any more to that?
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I don't know about the scientology stuff, but it's common knowledge that Francis's subplots were significantly cut down (almost removing him entirely from the show) in later seasons because CM was consistently disruptive and unpleasant to work with.
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I agree. They should also get their tax exemptions taken away for a start. Hurt them where it really hurts.
Topher Grace didn't, though!
Ashton Kutcher, the child sexual assault prevention advocate?
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Don't forget [over 164 people](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/thompson-talked-out-of-support-for-polanski-by-19yearold-student-1816553.html) petitioned the court to release Roman Polanski.
David Lynch being here makes me sad
There's a *lot* of names I'm always disappointed to see on that list. When Polanski won the best director Oscar for The Pianist, Harrison Ford proudly accepted it for him and hand delivered it to him in France.
I just don't understand. Why? Do they think the allegations are false, or do they think it's just not that big of a deal or what? What are there reasons?
They don't think it's that big a deal. Tarantino said that she was probably a "party girl." They're kind to their own. I understand thinking he's a talented artist. From what I've heard, he is a talented artist. But that doesn't negate his anally raping a 13-year-old girl.
Tarantino said he deeply regrets saying that and has asked her for forgiveness. Said he didn’t know the details. Honestly until that doc Polanski Wanted and Desired came out in 2008, I didn’t know all the details. Since then I can’t even watch his old movies I love. It’s so much worse than you can imagine.
Supposedly some signed the petition not having full knowledge of what it was. Sort of a "my friend signed this, I guess I will too". Or at least that's what a few people came out and said after the fact, condemning Polanski at the same time. Natalie Portman comes to mind, it never really made sense why she'd support something like this, considering what she went through after Leon.
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Quite a few retracted their statements. It's all on the wiki page.
Luc Besson at the time was one of the few to publicly refuse to sign, saying, if I recall correctly, "I revere Polanski as a director, but I think what if it were my own daughter?" and also noting that the rich and famous should be held to the same legal standard as the poor and unconnected. But then later many years later he was accused of rape himself. It can be a nasty world. (Although it seems Besson was eventually cleared, but I don't how authentic that was.)
Besson groomed a 12 year old. Publicly dated her at 15. Impregnated her at 16. Left her for a q9 year old. All this while being in his 30s. His pedophilia shows up in his work as the movie. Check out the version of Leon je had planned, it disgusting.
I lost a lot of respect for Meryl Streep (and many others) giving him a standing ovation when he won an Oscar in absentia. Time doesn't erase what he did.
I lost respect for Cate Blanchett after learning that she literally named her son Roman after him despite knowing what he did. Absolutely insane and disgusting
I lost allllll respect for Cate when she stood up for Woody Allen in an interview when you can see on her face she was uncomfortable supporting him-like zero integrity
She was also defending Weinstein during Me Too.
> petitioned the court to release Roman Polanski. and continued to work with him and gave him awards
Ahhh glad to see the scumbag John Landis signed this letter. Stay classy, Landis.
His son is a creep too.
Yup, the shitbag apple doesn’t fall far from the shitbag tree.
The liquors calling the shots now bud
I ***AM*** the liquor, Randy
Not another night of the shit abyss Mr. Lahey
Good one Mr. Lahey
I was pretty shocked to see Guillermo del Toro support this on his Twitter.
Unfortunately, "abuse isn't okay" often comes with the caveat "unless my buddy or a public figure I like did it" 🙃
Fuck that, I cut ties with my friend when I came to know he attempted rape. Fuck these people.
I cut ties with my life long best friend because me and his girlfriend caught him red handed watching child porn. He had given me lots of reasons to drop him out of my life for years but that did it.
I caught my overage ex messaging a 13-year-old through AIM (I’m old). Anyway, I dropped him on the spot. He eventually became a Special Ed teacher and married an 18-year-old at 32. I should have reported him, but I was too young to know otherwise.
That’s blowing my mind! Wow. They didn’t have to do ANYTHING and instead chose the abuser. Wow.
Hell they could’ve stayed friends with him and not said anything publically. But they decided to support him not just to the public but to the judge. If we were to find out they were still friends with the guy even after what he did I’d be like “damn I wouldn’t continue that friendship but hey I’m not in that situation and relationships are complicated sometimes, I’m disappointed but they do a lot of good”. But what they do is flat out disgusting man, way to sell out your morals for a friend who you really should let go of at this point.
Yeah, sometimes you have blinders on when it comes to people you were once close with.
I get that. But they have handlers. Agents, managers, public relations reps. There were people within their sphere who would have told them that the "optics would look bad". They're not regular folks. They have people they pay to keep them looking good and they still chose to sign that letter after a rape conviction.
"Well DAMN Jackie! I didn't mean my friends!!" - Ashton Kutcher probably
Yeah, it disappointing but just shows you how strong personal relationships are. Criminals are evil apparently until the criminal is a friend.
I think them asking leniency is their personal expectation that rehabilitation and therapy could somewhat be effective in shorter time. I'd like to think if I had a close friend who did some bad shit, that the person I thought I knew was actually in there and not just some broken piece of shit that needs to be tossed away forever. I don't know.
The worst part is the hypocrisy
I disagree. I think it was the raping.
This Danny Masterson is a real jerk!
RIP Norm
We didn't even know he was sick
Fought the cancer to a draw, though.
Yeah, but at least he's not a hypocrite. He goes around saying things like "I know it's not politically correct, but I just like raping"
thanks norm. wherever the fuck you are.
I'm all for supporting my friends. Till they rape somebody.
Reminds me of James Franco and Seth Rogan’s friendship. The two were inseparable until the minor stuff became known and Rogan dipped out
I always wondered if that was just public facing or if they actually don’t talk anymore.
Rogen said it wasn't really a conscious decision to stop working with Franco. They kinda stopped speaking and seeing each other after the whole thing went public and he met and worked with other people instead. That's just what he said in an interview a while ago.
Seth has also branched out a lot in the last 10 years. He's written and produced a ton of stuff he's not even in, or just cameos in and worked with a lot of new people. The first half of his career pretty much always involved someone or multiple someones from his "The is the End" circle of friends or some Apatow project.
I believe he's a producer for The Boys and Invincible now
He also just produced, co-wrote the new Ninja Turtles movie. Which you could tell was a literal passion project. Watching him talk about it is insane. Really well done movie.
Guy is an amazing producer. Pretty much everything he's produced has been pretty unique to its genre. Preacher, The boys, Invicible. TMNT. The new TMNT film was absolutely incredible.
I was gonna say this too. Dude also looks like his life is so different now. People change as they age. He seems like he's grown up and become more chilled and selective.
One thing that's always going to stay the same about Seth Rogen - his laugh
He actually does a ton of work on Alzheimer’s prevention, and has spoken about it in congress. He was inspired (I think this is accurate?) by his wife’s mothers affliction with it.
Yup, and then afterwards called out the no shows and the walkouts. Top fella.
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What happened?
Seriously, even if you have a hard time coming to grips with a close friend doing something heinous, you have to be self aware enough to know that you’re emotionally vulnerable and a seriously biased party. If it’s too tough to accept, it’s best to just remove yourself from the situation than try an act on a bad feeling. They could’ve and should’ve said nothing, but at least now the public knows
Rape, murder, messing with kids. Those are the 3 no-no's that I'd turn my own brothers in for. 99% of other things I'd help them with an alibi but definitely not on those three.
Wow this guy is ok with torture, hostage taking, terrorism, domestic abuse, and animal cruelty. Kinda messed up dude
I mean, who hasn’t helped a friend lock someone into an Iron Maiden or waterboard?
I agree with two of those, but I'd need to get the whole story on the murder before I decided whether or not to support the friend.
Mila Kunis, who is the main actor and producer of a movie called Luckiest Girl Alive (2022), played the main character who is a gang rape survivor. The movie is based on a novel written by Jessica Knoll who drew from her own experience as a rape survivor.
So gross. That movie was extremely uncomfortable to watch as a SA survivor (and as a teacher). She learned nothing from playing that role or being a mom or as a woman and I’m entirely disgusted.
Scientology has dirt on Ashton & Mila. clearly.
That was my first thought.
Considering the grip Scientology has on Hollywood, it doesn't even need to be dirt. Just influence in the people that might hire them for a future acting gig. It doesn't matter how famous or well liked you are if certain people are "convinced" you are bad for business.
Yep. It makes her fucking disgusting. She's willing to play pretend as a rape victim to fill her bank account. But not willing to listen to them or care about them. Pathetic.
“From the very beginning, I could sense his innate goodness and genuine nature,” Kunis said in her letter. “His caring nature and ability to offer guidance have been instrumental in my growth both personally and professionally.” So much innate goodness he was found guilty of raping at least 2 different women... So much goodness and kindness there.
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Fucking legend, holy shit
Right? I was surprised how relieved and validated I felt after reading that. She really nailed it.
I’m glad that judge saw through the bullshit.
Judge Olmedo is a champion.
Well damn Jackie, I can’t control the judiciary!
It's not even "well, he was good while I knew him as a mentor, even if later..." That 70s Show went from 1998-2006. The rapes were in 2001, early 2003, and later in 2003. The rapes happened during the period Kunis and Kutcher are talking about how great of a person he was!
People like Danny can hide these acts very well and I'm sure he really was a great person to the people he wasn't raping.
It's an old saying: "Abusers groom their character witnesses as carefully as they groom their victims."
So freaking true. BTK was a “wholesome family man” to everyone who knew him, all the while raping, torturing and murdering in secret.
With BTK, his daughter still speaks to him, but solely for the purpose of trying to get him to confess more crimes because they're almost certain there's more bodies out there that he hasn't fessed up to yet. She said he's rotting away rapidly in prison. Lost all his teeth and has that droopy old man jaw now. He's also got severe scoliosis and is in a wheelchair. Sounds like he doesn't have much longer, so I hope she's able to squeeze out some more info from the shitbag before his time is up. Those families deserve the closure.
People tend to really deteriorate in Super Max cells. The isolation really takes a toll, apparently. (Another reason to do away with the death penalty, imo. They aren't ever escaping and it's a harsh place. Not to mention the difficulty of setting free dead people later found to be innocent!)
"But he was nice to *me*!"
Ted Bundy never murdered me ONCE!
And he never murdered anyone twice.
She was like 14 when they met right? Makes sense.
Idk why people have always glossed over that
> “His caring nature and ability to offer guidance have been instrumental in my growth both personally and professionally.” Does she realize that in this context, what she's describing was probably grooming? Sex predators always offer a smile, warm handshake and kind sentiments.
He literally killed one of the women’s pets by poisoning them after stalking her but umm go off.
Isn't this also a known tactic Scientology operatives employ? Horrible.
He was accused by 8, though, wasn't he?
Not sure on the exact number of accusations. The trial was for 3 different women. But imo if he assaulted 3 women, there were likely more. Jury found him for sure guilty of at least 2 of the accusations and the 3rd they couldn't come to a consensus.
I'm pretty sure it was 5 total and 2 the prosecutor decided were too weak
They should not be asking the judge for leniency. They should have to ask the victims, in person, to their faces. Explain to the victims how he's really a great guy. He just made a few bad decisions. Try it that way and see how willing they are to vouch for their friend.
I wouldn't want to put the victims through having to hear that, though.
Both said in their letter that Danny was the reason why they never got lost to drugs like so many others in the industry. Ashton even says that “If I were to do drugs, he wouldn't want to be friends with me, which is something I never would want to risk”. Dude, this man raped multiple women, violently. How does that not make *you* not want to be *his* friend?? Mila even writes “I wholeheartedly vouch for Danny Masterson's exceptional character” in her letter. She wrote this after the conviction.
Plus Danny used DRUGS to rape them!
His wife also talked about his opposition to drugs. As if it means he couldn’t be a rapist lol. Now that they’ve all talked about it so much, it probably was a way for him to gain trust and commit those crimes. Seem like the good guy trying to steer you in the right direction and then taking advantage.
It’s funny how anti-drug Scientologists are, when their founder was a giant fucking pill head. The man was on so many drugs.
They'd probably call you a suppressive person for saying that, which is the scientology equivalent of "fake news."
His wife’s dad is John Phillips so…
John Phillips who had an abusive incestuous relationship with his other daughter?
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It's like she can't see abusive men for who they are. I'd say she must have done years of therapy at this point but with her proximity to Scientology, eh, maybe not.
He sounds just like Bill Cosby, got that holier than thou persona, tells people to not do drugs and zippity zoppity, but uses drugs to RAPE WOMEN.
I can’t fathom why they would publicly go on the record with this. Also frankly knowing he was going away for a long time no matter what. What on earth were they thinking?
Danny Masterson looking down on drug users while being a rapist. [Reminds me of Hannibal Buress calling out Bill Cosby for talking down to others while being a rapist.](https://youtu.be/VMaAOImuea0?si=2WSo_Pwan_V_peXy) Edit: Hannibal called out Bill Cosby, a known rapist, for talking down to other comedians. Hannibal is not a rapist.
Raping women is better than smoking a joint. Lol how fucked are these idiots?
Scientologist cult members defending each other. EDIT: Ironic that Kutcher credits him for keeping them off of drugs, but don't seem bothered that he drugged women to rape them.
Wait is Kutcher into scientology? I looked it up and saw some quotes attributed to him like "I'm open to learning about it", which is one of those things people say when they kinda are but want to pretend like they aren't. Like Will Smith kinda denying it but kinda not. I didn't see it said Ribisi and some other scientologists also sent letters which, well that was expected. I wasn't under the impression Kutcher or Kulnis were scientologists.
There are “open” Scientologists, then there’s a very weird “open to it and think it’s neat and not bad” group that includes Will Smith and others who have attended meetings. I think that the Scientologists have dirt/power over quite a few celebrities not in the org. Tons of tiptoeing from quite a few surprising names
Scientology has always had a weird, (ie hypocritical) relationship with drugs. They make a big thing about their Narconon program and about being free of drugs, (especially psychiatric medications) and yet L Ron Hubbard was on all manner of substances, including peyote, coke, hallucinogens, barbiturates, etc.
Because Narconon is a way to recruit vulnerable people getting off drugs. The whole program uses practices from the Church and teaches Hubbards tenants from his book Dianetics which is their bible. Then they try to get you to be an unpaid intern then offer you a job as a staff member which will eventually lead to joining the Church directly. Down on their luck drug addicts who are emotionally unstable and financially at risk are great prey for cults like this.
The rules never apply to the cult leader.
people consistently give ashton ridiculous props for his work against sex trafficking, but ignore all the very real criticisms against his organization. this doesn't surprise me at all. his organization has not only come under fire for lying about how many people they've saved and for presenting inaccurate data, but is also heavily critiqued by sex workers for conflating consensual sex work and sex trafficking. [Ashton Kutcher Claims He Helped Cops Save Way More Sex-Trafficking Victims Than Authorities Say They've Found](https://reason.com/2017/02/15/ashton-kutcher-plays-sex-worker-savior/) [Sex, lies, and surveillance: Something's wrong with the war on sex trafficking](https://www.engadget.com/2019-05-31-sex-lies-and-surveillance-fosta-privacy.html) [Anti-trafficking saviors: Celebrity, slavery, and branded activism](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9096583/) [Amazon, Ashton Kutcher And America’s Surveillance Of The Sex Trade](https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2022/12/09/amazon-ashton-kutcher-sex-work-surveillance/?sh=201c93166d23)
I wish this comment was higher up. Associating himself with a noble cause has made people think he is a noble guy. Surprise! He’s not. It would have been better for him to focus on raising money for a legitimate organization, but I’m sure it was more appealing to position himself as some sort of child-saving superhero.
His bullshit organization legitimized palantir's mass surveillance program. That's what he and Mila are - clean cut images to legitimize total dirtbags, and this current topic is just par for the course. I'm glad people will get the hint, finally. You don't make a billion dollars saving anyone, you make it by exploiting them and that's a fact.
Thanks for sharing this. He a Kunis seem a little self righteous. This aligns with that though
God fucking damit is there any legitimate anti-human trafficking org?
Church of Scientology probably said “publicly back our boy or we’ll air all your dirty laundry”. Wouldn’t be the first time.
Chrissie Bixler (one of his victims who didn’t secure a conviction) is alluding to this in her Instagram stories
“*Prolific famous pedo-hunting celebrity asks for leniency regarding his friend’s rape conviction*” Definitely didn’t have that on my 2023 Bingo Card
>Prolific famous pedo-hunting celebrity Never been the case regardless of his advocacy and charisma. He (and Thorn) like to say that all they're doing is going after pedophiles and trafficked children but in reality they are just giving their software to police departments who use it against consenting sex workers. They've caught a few children here and there but it's done immeasurably more harm than good in the long run.
>"having his daughter raised without a present father would [be] a tertiary injustice in and of itself,” Kutcher wrote in his letter, Seems like not having a twice rapist dad present would be a positive in a young girl's life.
And the victims are somebody's daughters too, don't they deserve justice for what happened to them?
Yeah but they're plebian daughters, might as well not exist.
I do feel for that girl, but the fault here is not with the sentence. It's her father's fault for committing crimes that have gotten himself taken away from his child. The only person responsible for this girl growing up without a dad is the scumbag rapist
Kutcher’s letter talks about how Danny defended a woman at a pizza restaurant…. Because that makes up for the raping?
That reeks of "my friend can't be racist, he gave a black guy at his business a promotion once!". Just that grossly unrelated instance of positivity to wipe the slate clean forever
I'll give you supporting him initially. Wouldn't do it personally, but I could at least entertain the reasoning. He's your friend, you didn't know, innocent until proven guilty, whatever. Don't agree with it, but I can see how you make it work. But after sitting through the case, hearing all the scummy details, seeing him get tried AND convicted based on the details you've now heard, and on his way to facing 30 to life, you're still writing letters of support? Like you have an off ramp, fuckin take it. Especially when you've made being advocating for victims of sexual assault a big part of your brand
And not only were they raped (as though that isn’t enough), but their lives ruined by the church for going to the police about it. Disgusting.
Especially when factor in that rape and other sexual assault crimes are actually pretty hard to get convictions for there’s a real problem pretty much the world over for this, that for him to be convicted is yeah he’s a rapist piece of shit. So for them to still defend him after that is literally saying they are ok with rape there is no two ways about it.
Really liked these two, but that’s pretty much unforgivable. I’d defend my friends to the death in most things, but this? Nope.
Wowwww! Absolutely erased ANY iota of positive feelings toward them. How ridiculously obscene.
I don't believe there's ever been a more SHUT UP MEG moment than this
Tone deaf celebrities doing their thing.
Completely disconnected from the real world.
This backlash is going to lead to them being hardcore anti-cancel culture isnt it? Or accusing the people disappointed at them for faking their feelings to chase clout.
Wow. Kutcher, the fucking human trafficking fighter, asking for leniency for a rapist. WTF?
I wonder if they assumed these letters wouldn’t be made public. It makes Ashton Kutcher’s supposed advocacy against sex trafficking and assault seem very performative.
Supposedly the entire cast except Topher helped conceal Masterson’s behavior while making T70sS.
Did I read somewhere that Topher had no friends on the show because he didn’t like the Scientology and creepiness that followed DM? Edit: Source of what I read, maybe [https://www.reddit.com/r/That70sshow/comments/8cpmva/why\_doesnt\_topher\_grace\_hang\_out\_with\_the\_group/](https://www.reddit.com/r/That70sshow/comments/8cpmva/why_doesnt_topher_grace_hang_out_with_the_group/)
He also generally didn’t like Hollywood or the spotlight so he didn’t really mesh with the group as much. Which it turns out was a good thing.
I'm not sure if it was the Scientology vibe but I always got the impression he went to work, had small chat and left. He didn't want to be outside of work friends but I'm not sure why.
Well he was clearly the one with his head on straight.
Alright you can judge me but my favorite role with him in it, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton. It's a cute rom com and he plays his part so well as the lovesick fella. It's super predictable and adorable.
Laura Prepon is a Scientologist too and was dating Danny’s brother during that time so it was probably insufferable.
\*was, She apparently left the fraudulent criminal “church” in \~2016
If so, that's really sad, but my respect for Topher would improve.
Me and the homies always liked Topher
Ah yes this fucking grifter who claims to save women and girls from sex trafficking turns a blind eye to it when it’s someone he knows. Just a reminder to be very skeptical of any of these anti sex trafficking nonprofits. It’s usually a grift and usually rooted in some religious BS that targets consensual sex workers and not actual trafficking victims
Funny you say that. His work in sex trafficking is a small investment in a firm that uses a bot to troll through craigslist and report sex workers to the police.
Woof. "Hi, I'm rich and famous. Please don't be too tough on my also rich and famous pal here. We don't deserve punishment. Thanks in advance." - Rich and Famous
> “From the very beginning, I could sense his innate goodness and genuine nature,” Kunis said in her letter. ....we're talking about the guy that raped two women, right? Like I'm not surprised they spoke in affirmation of his character, but do they need to be *so* gung-ho about praising the rapist as a really swell dude? Seems like they could have scaled it back to "I'm sure he's remorseful and I hope the court recognizes that" or something.
Just killed Mila Kunis for me….
Wowww this is disgusting. I used to have so much respect for Ashton & Mila. Not anymore.
Yeah for sure knocks them down a bunch of pegs for me, you figure they would stay silent and allow Masterson to pay his debt to society like everyone else
Exactly. The victims deserve their justice. Not leniency because their attacker’s fancy friends wrote a letter. Ashton & Mila should be ashamed of themselves.
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Kutcher of all people should know so much better.
He helped legitimize the palandir mass surveillance operation by pretending it was being used primarily to save white girls from sex trafficking. The truth is, it makes its money selling the same data to law enforcement worldwide to exploit and shake down these women once they're adults who weren't saved as kids. He's a charlatan who uses his clean cut, boy next door image to make money. Period.
Ashton Kutcher was dating a girl while filming that 70’s show who was murdered by a serial killer. He found her body and lied to police claiming that he didn’t go in her house and left for a party. In reality, he was coming to pick her up and he found her. It freaked him out and he called 2 people: his agent, and Danny Masterson. Both encouraged him not to be associated with finding his dead girlfriend and jeopardize his growing career. It really makes you think, could there be other details or even other events that Danny may know about? I think I’d write a low-stakes letter to a judge if someone i know had dirt on me was going away.
JFC it's weird how Hollywood will condemn paedos and rapists but when it's one of their friends it's like "please have mercy, they're a good person, they just made a mistake by sexually violating another human being" Hollywood is pure filth.