Last week brought the news that 'That '70s Show' actor Danny Masterson was convicted of raping two women.
The actor was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment - but over the weekend it came to light that two high profile actors wrote character references in support of him during his trial.
Now, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, who worked with Masterson on 'That '70s Show', have apologised for supporting him - calling him a "role model", while Kunis claimed that he had an "innate goodness" and was an "outstanding older brother figure to me."
In a sombre minute-long video posted to their social media accounts, the couple - who married in 2015, traded lines as Kutcher began by saying: "We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson."
"We support victims," Kunis added. "We have done this historically through our work and will continue to do so in the future."
Kutcher explained that they had been approached by Masterson's family to write the character references, "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 added that they were "intended for the judge to read, and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatise them in any way", and not, as Kunis said, "to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the validity of the jury's ruling."
Kunis ended by saying "Our heart goes out to every single person who's ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse or rape."
The pair's support of Masterson has seen them slammed on social media, including by their fellow actor Christina Ricci.
See some of the reactions below:
