Three British news organizations reported Saturday that comedian Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and abuse based on allegations from four women who knew him over a seven-year period. Brand denied the allegations and said all of his relationships have been consensual. The Sunday Times, The Times of London and Channel 4's "Dispatches" said one woman alleged she had been raped, while three others accused him of sexual assault. One of the women also said he had been physically and emotionally abusive. Before the stories were published, Brand posted a video online denying the allegations, which had been outlined in two "extremely disturbing letters" from a "mainstream media" television company and a newspaper. He didn't identify the news organizations by name. "Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute," he said. "These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream. ... I was very, very promiscuous."
Ashton Kutcher has resigned as chairman of the board of an anti-child sex abuse organization after he and wife, Mila Kunis, wrote letters seeking leniency for their former "That '70s Show" co-star and convicted rapist, Danny Masterson. Kutcher stepped down Thursday from the board of Thorn, an organization he founded with then-wife Demi Moore in 2009, the group said in a statement. "After my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn, I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately," Kutcher wrote in a letter to the board. "I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve." A Los Angeles judge sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in prison Sept. 7. The day after the sentencing, letters to the judge from Kutcher, Kunis and many others were made public. In Kutcher's, he called Masterson a man who in his experience had treated people "with decency, equality, and generosity." Kutcher and Kunis apologized the next day for writing the letters, which Kutcher said "were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatize them in any way."