Christina Ricci stresses the importance of believing abuse victims: 'Awesome guys can be predators'

Trigger Warning: This article contains details of abuse that may be distressing to readers.

Christina Ricci is reminding her fans that people we know and admire can also be capable of doing terrible things. Despite being put on a pedestal, many people—including celebrities— can perform atrocities behind closed doors. "So, sometimes the people we have loved and admired do horrible things. They might not do these things to us and we only know who they are to us, but that doesn't mean they didn't do the horrible things and to discredit the abused is a crime," Ricci wrote in her Instagram story on Saturday. "People we know as 'awesome guys' can be predators and abusers. It's tough to accept but we have to. If we say we support victims—women, children, men, boys—then we must be able to take this stance."

"The Addams Family" star referred to her own experiences, revealing in another Instagram story that she has crossed paths with "lots of 'awesome guys' who were lovely to me who have been proven to be abusers privately." According to PEOPLE, she added: "I've also had personal experience with this. Believe victims. It's not easy to come forward. It's not easy to get a conviction."

The 43-year-old has had her own encounter with abuse during her relationship with ex-James Heerdegen. The two tied the knot in 2013 and share a 9-year-old son, Freddie. They split in 2020 amid domestic abuse allegations. After she filed for divorce, Ricci reportedly claimed she was subjected to "severe physical and emotional abuse" by Heerdegen, with "many of these acts of abuse" taking place in front of their child. It is said to have started as far back as October 2013 when she learned of her pregnancy.

Ricci's message comes shortly after Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis apologized for writing controversial letters of support for their former costar, Danny Masterson. The 47-year-old was sentenced to 30 years in prison for two rapes that took place during the height of his "That '70s Show." He will be eligible for parole when he is 77 years old. According to Variety, Kutcher's letter read in part, "Danny takes his job seriously. He is kind, courteous, and hard-working. He treated everyone from the grips to the teamsters to the actors to the caterers as equals. As a role model, Danny has consistently been an excellent one..."

Meanwhile, Kunis called Masterson an "amazing friend, confidant, and, above all, an outstanding older brother figure," in her letter. "His genuine concern for those around him and his commitment to leading by example make him an outstanding role model and friend," she added.

In an apology video on Instagram, Kutcher addressed the letters saying, "We are aware of the pain that has been caused by the character letters that we wrote on behalf of Danny Masterson. A couple [of] months ago Danny's family reached out to us and they asked us to write character letters to represent the person that we knew for 25 years, so that the judge could take that into full consideration relative to the sentencing."

"The letters were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the validity of the jury's ruling," 40-year-old Kunis added. "They were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or re-traumatize them in any way," Kutcher said. "We'd never want to do that, and we're sorry if that has taken place." Kunis concluded the video by saying, "Our heart goes out to every single person who's ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse or rape." She added that they "support victims and will continue to do so in the future."