Actress Christina Ricci has urged people to believe victims in a statement apparently responding Danny Masterson’s rape sentence, as two That ’70s Show co-stars face backlash for their public support of him.

Masterson’s former co-stars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher were among those who penned letters asking for leniency ahead of Masterson’s sentence for rape last week.

In their letters, Kutcher referred to their former co-star as a “good friend”, while he was also described as an “outstanding older brother figure” to Kunis.

“Not only is he a good friend to me I’ve witnessed him be a good friend to others and the kind of brother others would be lucky to have,” Kutcher wrote to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo in late August.

Masterson was jailed for 30 years after being found guilty of raping two women in the early 2000s.

“I do not believe he is an ongoing harm to society and having his daughter raised without a present father would [be] a tertiary injustice in and of itself,” Kutcher wrote.

But the support from Kunis and Kutcher, who met on the set of That ’70s Show, has sparked a storm of criticism.

That led them to release an apology video at the weekend. In it, Kutcher apologised for the harm their character letters had caused. Kunis said the two “support victims” and would continue to do so.

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Kunis said the letters were not written to question the court process or the jury’s finding against Masterson.

“They were intended for the judge to read, and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or re-traumatise them in any way – we would never want to do that. And we’re sorry if that has taken place,” she said.

Then Ricci weighed in with a statement on her Instagram, where she pointed out that even good friends or surrogate brothers are capable of doing horrific things.

She did not name Masterson, Kutcher or Kunis. But there is widespread speculation her statement referred to the stars of That 70s Show.

“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,” Ricci said.

“People we know as ‘awesome guys’ can be predators and abusers. It’s tough to accept but we have to. If we say we support victims – women, children, men, boys – then we must be able to take this stance.”

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Ricci said she had known plenty of “awesome guys” who were lovely to her, but were exposed and proven to be abusers in private.

Ricci said she had some personal experience with “awesome guys” being abusive. In 2020 she split from ex-husband James Heerdegen and later accused him of physical and emotional abuse when she filed a restraining order against him.

“Believe victims. It’s not easy to come forward. It’s not easy to get a conviction,” she wrote.

The character letters signed by Kutcher and Kunis were published at the weekend. The couple claimed they were asked to write them by Masterson’s family.

Other That ’70s Show co-stars, Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp, who played Red and Kitty on the show, also wrote letters.

Several stars from That ’70s Show sent letters in support of Danny Masterson.

Judge Olmedo sentenced 47-year-old Masterson on Friday (Australian time) after hearing statements from his victims about their trauma and suffering caused by disturbing memories in the years since his attacks.

“When you raped me, you stole from me,” said one woman who Masterson was convicted of raping in 2003.

“That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit. You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent.The world is better off with you in prison.”

The other woman Masterson was found guilty of raping said he had “not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused”.

“I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with. I am so sorry, and I’m so upset. I wish I’d reported him sooner to the police,” she told the judge.