This article discusses sexual assault.
Amy Schumer is facing backlash after making a joke about the recent controversy surrounding Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis.
For those who don’t know, Ashton and Mila have been at the center of public scrutiny since the weekend, after their glowing character letters for Danny Masterson surfaced online.
Danny, who starred in That ’70s Show alongside Ashton and Mila, was recently sentenced to 30 years to life in prison after being found guilty of raping two women in the early 2000s.
After the guilty verdict was made, the judge in the case received letters from Ashton, Mila, and several other people asking for leniency in Danny’s sentence. Ashton hailed Danny as an “excellent” role model in his character letter, while Mila called him an “older brother figure” and praised his “caring nature.”
Needless to say, internet users were outraged by Ashton and Mila’s complimentary descriptions of Danny, and immediately took to social media to condemn the pair — especially given that Ashton runs an organization centered around helping victims of child sex trafficking.
Before long, Ashton and Mila decided to sit down and address the controversy in an Instagram video available on his page, though this only wound up fueling more backlash.
In the clip, the pair say that their letters “were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the validity of the jury’s ruling,” and were simply “intended for the judge to read.” The couple were ultimately branded “performative” and “insincere” for lacking accountability in their video, with Ashton turning off the comments altogether.
Much like many fans, several celebrities have since used their platforms to condemn Ashton and Mila. For this reason, social media users were left disappointed to see that Amy Schumer had made a joke about the subject while apologizing for a separate controversial post she’d shared.
This week, Amy posted a now-deleted photo of Nicole Kidman sitting at the US Open. In the caption, she wrote, “This how human sit.” Several users interpreted this as Amy calling Nicole robotic, and the comedian later apologized for “alluding to her being an alien.”
According to Page Six, the comments under Amy’s post were quickly flooded with criticism. “Are you cyberbullying Oscar and Emmy winner Nicole Kidman right now,” one purportedly read, while another said, “Bringing others down is always a sign of our own internal insecurities anyway.”
As mentioned, Amy ended up issuing an apology for mocking Nicole shortly after the criticism began to pour in, and she also deleted the post altogether.
“I want to apologize to all the people I hurt posting a photo of Nicole Kidman and alluding to her being an alien,” Amy wrote in her post, which has since been removed from her page.
The comic then went on to reference Ashton, Mila, and “the cast of That ‘70s Show” as she poked fun at the controversy surrounding the character letters they wrote for Danny.
“I will be asking the cast of That ’70s Show to write letters advocating for my forgiveness,” she quipped, before adding the hashtag, “#takingtimetoheal.”
Fans were left unimpressed with Amy’s remark, and quickly called her out for “poking fun at a serious situation” and making the controversy “about herself.”
“this is a serious situation why is she making fun of it,” one user questioned. “I just don’t think poking fun at ppl when the issue at hand involves sexual assault is funny,” said another.
“she could use her platform to support the victims, condemn danny, or call out ashton and mila, but instead she tried to score internet points and make it about herself,” someone else wrote.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.