Ashton Kutcher Has Resigned From The Board Of His Anti-Child Sex Abuse Organization In Light Of His Support For Convicted Rapist Danny Masterson

Ashton Kutcher has resigned as chairman of the board for Thorn, an anti-child sex abuse organization that he co-founded while married to Demi Moore. The actor is stepping down after unsealed court documents revealed that both he and wife Mila Kunis wrote letters of support for Danny Masterson asking the judge to apply leniency after the That ’70s Show star was convicted of raping two women.

Kutcher and Kunis were target of intense backlash after the letters were published, and Kutcher in particular was called out for running an organization that helps purportedly victims of sexual abuse. The hypocrisy was not lost on him as he offered his resignation.

Via TIME:

“Victims of sexual abuse have been historically silenced and the character statement I submitted is yet another painful instance of questioning victims who are brave enough to share their experiences,” Kutcher wrote in a Sept. 14 letter to Thorn’s board, which was shared exclusively with TIME.

“After my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn, I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately,” Kutcher wrote. “I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve.”

Kunis served as an observer on Thorn’s board and has also stepped down. “Moral fraud” Kutcher and Thorn had already received a lot of scrutiny over the years for doing more harm than good, enhancing the police surveillance state and essentially waging war on consensual sex workers. Further, Kutcher has also waged war against media outlets that have been critical of Thorn.

“The mission must always be the priority and I want to offer my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did,” Kutcher wrote. “And to the broader advocacy community, I am deeply sorry. I remain proud of what we have accomplished in the past decade and will continue to support Thorn’s work. Thank you for your tireless advocacy and dedication to this cause.”

We’ll see if this will do much to stem the criticism of Kutcher. But we doubt it.

(Via TIME)