First Danny Masterson, now Sean "Diddy" Combs — Ashton Kutcher's inner circle seems questionable to say the least. What do the latest revelations tell us about Kutcher and Diddy's friendship?
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00:00First, Danny Masterson, now Sean Diddy Combs. Ashton Kutcher's inner circle seems questionable
00:06to say the least. What do the latest revelations tell us about Kutcher and Diddy's friendship?
00:11Combs' houses in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security in March 2024
00:17in what was thought to be an ongoing investigation regarding sex trafficking. That was confirmed
00:21on September 16th, when Diddy was arrested and charged with racketeering and trafficking.
00:27All the while, members of his inner circle, including Kutcher, have been noticeably tight-lipped.
00:31As one source told the Daily Mail,
00:33"...there is no way in hell Ashton or Mila will be showing any sort of public support
00:37for Diddy right now. Regardless of Ashton's long history with him, he has distanced himself
00:41from Diddy since Cassie's lawsuit, and even more so in the wake of the new ones. He's
00:45expecting a subpoena as they have been good friends for 20 years."
00:49Kutcher and Mila Kunis had previously apologized for writing a letter to the courts defending
00:54Danny Masterson's character prior to his sentencing for sexual assault.
00:58"...the letters were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the
01:03validity of the jury's ruling."
01:05In the same video, Kutcher addressed their decision to support Masterson, insisting that
01:09the letters had been for only the judge to read, and claiming he had never intended to
01:13re-traumatize the victims.
01:16In 2009, Ashton Kutcher and his then-wife, Demi Moore, co-founded the charity THORN in
01:21an effort to stop child trafficking.
01:23"...I've been on FBI raids where I've seen things that no person should ever see."
01:28They had apparently decided to do this after watching a documentary on Dateline. Speaking
01:32to W Magazine, Kutcher said,
01:34"...those Cambodian kids were 7, 8, 9 years old. I started asking around and people said
01:39to me, oh no, it's happening right here in Los Angeles."
01:42At the time, Kutcher was the board chairman, but he made the decision to resign after the
01:46Danny Masterson debacle. In a statement posted on the organization's website, Kutcher wrote,
01:51"...after my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning,
01:55and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at THORN, I have determined
02:00the responsible thing for me to do is resign as chairman of the board, effective immediately.
02:05I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve."
02:10Now that Kutcher is tied to Diddy amid the rapper's sexual assault and human trafficking
02:15charges, his work at THORN has raised a few eyebrows. As one Reddit user wrote,
02:19"...so now two close friends of Ashton are sex predators? Okay."
02:23Another wrote,
02:24"...Ashton Kutcher being the face of an organization whose purpose was to stop sex trafficking,
02:28being close friends with so many rapists and predators is so menacing."
02:32It's no wonder Kutcher is keeping his head down when it comes to Diddy these days.
02:37Diddy gained a reputation for his star-studded White Party, hosted annually in the Hamptons,
02:42and in 2009, his BFF Ashton Kutcher appeared as co-host. While these gatherings don't take
02:47place anymore, it's probably fair to assume that Kutcher wishes he had passed on the invitation.
02:52The goings-on at Diddy's parties must have been pretty debaucherous, as Kutcher couldn't
02:57even divulge what transpired during his appearance on Hot Ones. When asked about the rappers'
03:01get-togethers, Kutcher replied,
03:03"...Wow, okay, I've got a lot. I can't tell. I can't tell that one either."
03:07One of Diddy's parties took a dark turn in 2022 when his son Christian Combs allegedly
03:12sexually assaulted a staff member of the yacht that the rapper had chartered. Grace O'Markey
03:16claimed that Christian forced her to drink alcohol that she suspected was laced with
03:20drugs before being groped and pressured to perform sexual acts. Luckily, she managed
03:25to escape the ordeal.
03:27Friendly competition between friends is normal, but Ashton Kutcher admitted on Hot Ones that
03:31Diddy always wants to win at any cost. He told one anecdote about a time in which they
03:36both went out running. While surrounded by paparazzi, Diddy began to struggle and slow
03:40down.
03:41He was like,
03:42"...You gotta slow down, but make it look like you're not slowing down because I don't
03:45want to look like I'm not gonna be able to finish this thing."
03:47And he was losing it. Kutcher added that Diddy was so upset that he got gassed out that he
03:51resolved to run the marathon that year. He just can't lose, even when he's that close
03:56to humility. Diddy later confirmed that it was that day that had spurned him to train.
04:00"...We've always been competitive in a positive way, always pushed each other to achieve our
04:07dreams and to think out of the box."
04:08However, Diddy also admitted that it was those unflattering paparazzi shots that had mortified
04:13him enough to kick his fitness into high gear.
04:16When Ashton Kutcher made the Time 100 list in 2010, Diddy told the publication about
04:21their partying heyday, saying,
04:23"...For a while, with Jamie Foxx, we were a rat pack, hanging out, going to clubs. I
04:27remember one night he was with Demi, maybe for the first time, and a couple of weeks
04:31later he called to tell me he was in love. Like me, he's a mogul. A new media mogul.
04:36But we are yin and yang. I am in your face, but he is understated, cool, suave."
04:41That wasn't the only apparent difference between Diddy and Kutcher. In an interview
04:44with the Daily Herald, Kutcher revealed,
04:46"...our friendship has helped me become aware of the fact that people are becoming comfortable
04:50with something that's still very uncomfortable."
04:52Kutcher said that people would wonder why he and Diddy were friends since their backgrounds
04:55were so different. He explained,
04:57"...but it wasn't that he was a hip-hop mogul and I was a farm kid. It was because he was
05:01Black and I was White. It was that simple. If he was a White hip-hop artist from New
05:05York, nobody would have noticed."
05:07Despite having an unconventional friendship, the two have remained close over the years,
05:11but whether their friendship survives Diddy's legal battle is another question entirely.
05:16If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit
05:20the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline
05:26at 1-800-656-HOPE, 4673.