Taryn Manning Defends Danny Masterson After Sentencing: ‘He Made a Mistake’
Four days after the ‘That 70s Show’ alum was sentenced to prison for rape, the ‘Orange Is the New Black’ alum took to Instagram to defend him on Sept. 11.
Danny Masterson, 47, was sentenced to three decades in prison on two charges of rape on Sept. 7 and many celebrities have reacted to the news. Most recently, Orange Is the New Black alum Taryn Manning, 44, took to Instagram on Sept. 11 to defend the disgraced actor. “You humiliated somebody that I actually really loved and cared for,” she said at the start of the clip. “I’m all the way in with everything that I’ve always stood for that I was hiding secretly.”
The 44-year-old went on to slam people for “crucifying” the That 70s Show alum less than one week after his sentencing. “There’s no human on this planet that doesn’t deserve to have the best life and to be happy and free because you are made in the image of the good Lord, made perfectly just the way you are,” Taryn added. “And the fact that people wanna just tear us all down, like even with my friend Danny going to prison for 30 years. Yeah, he made a mistake, but everyone just keep going, keep crucifying him, as if he’s not already suffering.”
She then pleaded for everyone to “leave him alone” after Taryn claimed that Danny “gets it” and “he got it.” More so, the Crossroads star asked her one million followers to also leave her alone. “Leave me alone! Leave people alone,” she quipped. “Who are you? Who are you?! What did you do today to change the world, huh?” She concluded the video by chanting, “People like you… people like me… yeah – enough.”
Not only did the actress defend Danny, but she also slammed Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis for “back peddling” on their initial letters for their former co-stars trial. “The biggest disgrace of the year. Mila and Ashton back peddling and blaming his mom. Wow,” Taryn captioned the video. Ashton and his wife have since apologized for writing the letters for the 47-year-old. “We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson,” Ashton explained in their Sept. 9 video. “We support victims. We have done this historically through our work and will continue to do so in the future,” Mila added.
Danny was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for two charges of rape from incidents that occurred over 20 years ago, per NBC News. Last week, Judge Charlaine Olmedo sentenced him for 15 years to life on each of the charges. “Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s voice and choice. Your actions 20 years ago were criminal, and that is why you are here,” Olmedo said to him at the time, per Variety. He is married to Bijou Phillips, 43, and they share one daughter, Fianna Francis, 9.