Ashton Kutcher ’s longtime friendship with Sean “ Diddy ” Combs is under scrutiny following the federal raids on the
music mogul’s homes last week. On 25 March, Diddy’s mansions in
Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal agents as part of a sex trafficking investigation. Diddy, who has not been formally charged or accused by federal prosecutors of any crime, described the actions of agents as a “gross overuse of military-level force” and insisted he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Since the raids, Kutcher’s past comments about Diddy have resurfaced. Appearing on the
YouTube series Hot Ones in 2019, the
Actor declined to share details about the rapper’s parties, saying, “I’ve got a lot I can’t tell,” before pausing to consider. “I can’t tell that one either.” The pair became
Friends in 2003 while they were both producing shows at
MTV. At the time, Kutcher had just launched the prank show Punk’d when he received a call from Diddy. “I gave [Kutcher] a call one day and said, ‘I heard that you are going to punk me, and I just don’t think that’s a good idea,’” Diddy told
James Corden on The Late
Late Show in 2018. “I think it was some version of, ‘If you do that, that will not end well for you, but I think we should work out a deal,’” Kutcher added. The two then started running together, leading them both to complete the
New York City Marathon in 2003. “We had paparazzi all around us at the time and [Diddy] was like, ‘You gotta slow down, but make it look like you’re not slowing down because I don’t wanna look like I’m not gonna be able to finish this thing,’” Kutcher recalled on his Hot Ones interview. “He was so upset over the fact he got skunked on this run, that year he decided to run the New York Marathon. He just can’t lose, even when he’s that close to humility, it becomes a driver.” The Independent has contacted Kutcher’s representatives for comment. Diddy has faced a string of abuse allegations in recent months. In February, a male music producer accused Combs of sexually assaulting him and forcing him to sleep with sex workers. In November last year, Combs’s former partner, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit in which she claimed she was trafficked, raped and beaten by the
Rapper on numerous occasions over the course of 10 years. Ventura’s lawsuit was settled a day after she filed it for an undisclosed amount of money. Another of Diddy’s accusers is a woman who alleges that he raped her two decades ago, when she was 17 years old. Diddy vehemently denied the allegations. In a statement in December, he called the claims “sickening” and said his accusers were “looking for a quick payday”. Meanwhile, Kutcher and his wife Mila Kunis recently faced criticism for their support of their That ‘70s Show co-star Danny Masterson, who was convicted of raping two
Women in September last year. After Masterson’s sentencing took place, Kunis and Kutcher were revealed to be among a group of close friends and family members to have submitted messages on behalf of the defendant. Both stars spoke to Masterson’s character, urging the judge to impose a shorter sentence. Following the intense backlash against their letters, Kutcher and Kunis released an apology video , which was widely criticised and mocked online for appearing insensitive and insincere. In addition, they stepped down from their leadership roles at Thorn, the anti-child sex abuse organisation that Kutcher founded in 2009 with ex-wife Demi Moore. Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and
Sexual Abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in
England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in
Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern
Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk . If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)