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Taryn Manning has taken aim at Ashton Kutcher for a second time, slamming the actor and his wife Mila Kunis over their Danny Masterson apology video.
The Orange is the New Black star publicly defended Masterson, 47, on social media, after the That '70s Show star was sentenced to 30 years in prison on September 7 for raping two women. She also criticized his former co-stars Kutcher, 45, and Kunis, 40, for "back-pedaling" on their support for Masterson, after the couple apologized for writing character letters on behalf of their longtime friend.
Now, the 44-year-old actress has hit out at Kutcher again, this time regarding her Punk'd appearance in 2003.
Running on MTV from 2003 to 2012, the reality show saw Kutcher play a variety of pranks on celebrities. Manning was "punked" in the sixth episode of Season 2, during a red carpet segment with a fake foreign reporter.
The scene involved a reporter from the Philippines called Liza and actress Jill Wagner acting as a translator, with the pair asking questions to celebrities as they walked the red carpet.
"Jill doesn't speak this language," Kutcher explained as he opened the segment. "You really should have paid attention in Filipino class in high school."
After pranking Clueless actress Alicia Silverstone, TV presenter Maria Menounos, Arrested Development actor Jason Bateman and reality TV star Nicole Richie with "mistranslated" questions, the duo move on a then-24-year-old Manning.
"I like you," Liza says to a flattered Manning in the footage, but as the actress turns to walk away, the fake reporter yells "Do you like girls?"
"Huh?" Manning replies, causing Liza to repeat the question. "What do you mean? Of course," Manning responds.
"You know like, for sex?" Liza asks, to which Manning clarifies "Do I like to have sex with girls?"
"Yes, yes," Liza says, with an obviously annoyed Manning answering "No."
In a post to social media on September 12, the 8-Mile actor said the experience "traumatized" her.
"No joke. Something I had not been okay with being I guess a bisexual lady," she wrote alongside a video of herself criticizing Kutcher and Kunis.
"I was a child. Seriously dude. Stick up for people for once."
In a second video posted an hour later, Manning explained that she wasn't out at the time of the Punk'd prank.
"This is dedicated to @aplusk for calling me out and punking me on the carpet calling out something I wish I could have shared with my family and friends first," she posted, along with a clip of herself dancing.
This isn't the first time Kutcher has come under scrutiny for his Punk'd behavior; a video featuring Kutcher's comments about a then-15-year-old Hilary Duff has gone viral in the wake of Masterson's sentencing.
"She's one of those girls that we're all waiting for to turn 18. Along with the Olsen twins," Kutcher said of Duff during the Punk'd segment.
In a recently resurfaced interview with Kunis and Kutcher from The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Kunis also recalled that Masterson had bet Kutcher money to French kiss Kunis during filming for That '70s Show, when the actress was 14 and Kutcher was 19.
"It was like the first week," Kunis recalled, which Kutcher disputed. "Ashton's attractive and I was a 14-year-old little girl, and I was extremely scared for my life. He was very nice about it. He was like, 'Oh, don't worry.' So I was like, 'OK.'
"Then Danny goes, 'Dude, I'll give you $10 if you French-kiss her,'" Kunis added, prompting Kutcher to interject that she was "making it sound like it was really bad."
Kutcher and Kunis were two of 50 people to write character letters on behalf of Masterson after he was convicted in May 2023. The couple starred with Masterson That '70s Show, which ran from 1998 to 2006, and were friends for 25 years.
After the star was sentenced, Kutcher and Kunis publicly apologized on social media for writing the letters, which were requested by Masterson's family in the hopes of getting him a more lenient sentence.
"They were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or re-traumatize them in any way," said Kutcher in the clip.
"We would never want to do that and we're sorry if that has taken place."
On Instagram, Manning accused Kutcher and Kunis of "blame-shifting" onto Masterson's mom.
"'She made us write the letter,'" the actress said in the clip, while making fake sobbing sounds. "How rude to blame the mother. What? She put your hand to the paper and made you do it?"
She urged the couple to remember Masterson as their "friend," and said that she is "crushed" that he will "die in jail."
Manning also blasted the Orange is the New Black showrunners, as her character's tragic storyline meant she had to "stand up and be the spokesperson for rape."
"That's abusive to me," she said. "Nobody ever told me what I would be up against. [Show creator] Jenji [Kohan], [executive producers] Tara [Herrmann], Neri [Kyle Tannenbaum], you just dropped that on me."
Newsweek has reached out to Taryn Manning, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis for comment via email.
About the writer
Sophie is a Newsweek Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in Lincoln, UK. Her focus is reporting on film and ... Read more