Kathy Griffin Shares Harrowing Story Amid Danny Masterson Sentencing

Kathy Griffin is the latest star to criticize the celebrities who wrote character statements for convicted rapist, Danny Masterson.

The comedian shared a deeply personal story to highlight why she disagreed with the likes of Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Giovanni Ribisi writing letters to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo asking her to not give Masterson a harsh sentence.

Married couple Kunis and Kutcher wrote letters in support of their That 70s Show co-star,who on Friday was sentenced to 30 years in prison for drugging and raping two women. He will be eligible for parole in 25 years.

Griffin was one of many people to condemn the actors' support of Masterson and shared her views on TikTok.

"I know it's so difficult to get a conviction in a rape trial and it's almost impossible. Most prosecutors, well all prosecutors will not even bring the case to trial unless there's an incredible amount of evidence because it turns into a 'he said, she said' and historically juries are very trepidatious to say the least about convicting a guy of SA (sexual assault)," she began.

"There's still a lot of stigma about whether or not the woman asked for it etc, but the notion that this guy was also convicted of drugging these women... that is such serious stuff that I don't really care that they were working on That 70s Show and he was like 'a good guy to work with,' and he 'worked actively to keep people off drugs because he's a Scientologist'."

Griffin then went on to take aim at the church popular in Hollywood. The two women who brought charges against Masterson were also members of Scientology at the time of the rapes. They claimed Masterson used his influence within the church to keep them quiet, and said church rules prevented them from speaking out. The Church of Scientology has denied all claims in previous correspondence with Newsweek.

The comedian then spoke about her late brother, Ken Griffin, and how she tried to have him arrested for molesting two children, an incident she wrote about in her autobiography, Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin.

"It was a horrible, horrible thing and I tried to get him caught," she explained.

"Now this was my brother, so i don't want to hear about Ashton and Mila and Giovanni Ribisi and people say that they feel like they had to stick up for Danny Masterson because he was their bro, he was their buddy, this was my own brother.

"Two of his girlfriends confessed to me that he also physically abused to them very violently. And, I called LAPD about it twice because my brother was the super of a building and that's how he gained access to his victims because he was the manager of an apartment building in Hollywood."

"So he had keys to all the units, and he allegedly, because he never went to prison for this, he went to prison for something else, he molested a boy and a girl, because most pedophiles don't care about gender."

Griffin went on to say how her decision to go to the police "caused a giant rift within my family."

"For many years I was shunned by my own family because I was trying to get my brother Ken arrested," she said.

"I was in and out of my family and sometimes they would write me letters saying I'm 'not a Griffin anymore,' and all this nonsense.

She explained that "the point is, blood was not thicker than water in my case and if you know that somebody is committing SA you should do something."

"There's my two cents about this and that's why I find this whole case brings up a lot of emotions in me. So, believe the victims. You know, for people to go to the police they don't do it lightly."

It is not known for what charges Ken went to jail, but Griffin had also accused her brother of sexually abusing her when she was a child, and told her mother when she was in her twenties. As reported by Griffin, Ken admitted he had done what she accused him of, which she has spoken about in numerous media interviews.

Yellowjackets star Christina Ricci also appeared to speak against the character statement on her Instagram stories.

"So, 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," she wrote.

"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.

"Unfortunately I've known lots of 'awesome guys' who were lovely to me who have been proven to be abusers privately. I've also had personal experience with this. Believe victims. It's not easy to come forward. It's not easy to get a conviction."

After facing swift backlash for writing the letters, Kunis and Kutcher issued an apology on Instagram.

Kutcher said: "We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson."

The pair said they "support victims" of sexual abuse and violence and said the letters were not meant to question the legitimacy of the verdict

Kutcher said Masterson's family reached out to them to request they the letters ahead of his sentencing. Ribisi has not commented publicly about the backlash he received for writing the letter.

Specialists from the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) sexual assault hotline are available 24/7 via phone (1 (800) 656-4673) and online chat. Additional support from the group is also accessible via the mobile app.