What Happened To Ashton Kutcher? The Actor's Downfall Is Such A Tragedy

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The following includes mentions of rape, child abuse, and addiction.

Once upon a time, casting Ashton Kutcher in any given rom-com would pretty much guarantee a box office hit. Those are bygone days. Now, Hollywood barely casts Kutcher anymore. His tragic downfall is hardly anyone's fault but his. Kutcher racked up controversy of all kinds that damaged his reputation with his peers and the public alike. While his questionable behavior had been criticized for some time, it all blew up when Kutcher stood up for Danny Masterson.

That wasn't the only time his friendships caused him trouble, with Kutcher later making headlines amid Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial. His association with stars accused of heinous crimes shed a different light on some of his past actions. Kutcher's inappropriate comments about underage actors may have caused no trouble in the early aughts, but they certainly gained renewed attention given his involvement with people facing sex crimes. "[Hilary Duff] is one of the girls that we're all waiting for to turn 18. Along with the Olsen twins," he said in a 2003 resurfaced clip from MTV's "Punk'd."

Duff was 15, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were 17, while he was 25. Some argue that we shouldn't judge the past by today's standards, but that's not a good look. "It was not an appropriate comment, then or now. 100% he is sexualizing minors with that comment," one user wrote on X. Kutcher has been trying to bounce back for some time, but things haven't been looking good for him.

Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson's relationship goes way back. After meeting on the set of "That '70s Show" in 1998, the two became friends offscreen as they played Michael Kelso and Steven Hyde for eight seasons. However, Kutcher's association with his former co-star came back to haunt him when Masterson was sentenced to 30 years after being found guilty of raping two women. But Kutcher wasn't just criticized for having befriended a convicted rapist.

Ahead of Masterson's sentencing, meaning after his guilty verdict, Kutcher and his wife and fellow "That '70s Show" alum, Mila Kunis, wrote character letters to the judge pleading for a lesser sentence for their friend. When news of it surfaced in September 2023, they offered what many deemed a non-apology. "[The letters] were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatize them in any way. We would never want to do that, and we're sorry if that has taken place," they penned in a since-deleted Instagram post (via The Guardian).

Unsurprisingly, Kutcher and Kunis were slammed as hypocrites over their support of Masterson, especially because Kutcher established a foundation dedicated to protecting children from sexual abuse and trafficking in 2010. "[This is] such a great encapsulation of the way people love to fight against their imaginary idea of what abuse is but not what it actually is," one user wrote on X. Kutcher resigned from the foundation's board following the backlash.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

It wasn't just regular citizens on the internet who thought Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis' support of Danny Masterson crossed a line. His Hollywood peers also publicly criticized the couple, dealing another harsh blow to their reputation. Comedian Kathy Griffin minced no words when she offered her thoughts about their actions, sharing her own experience of reporting her brother for reportedly preying on children at an apartment building he managed. "It was a horrible, horrible thing, and I tried to get him caught," she said in an Instagram video.

Griffin's actions infuriated her family, who ostracized her after she contacted police twice. But she knew she did the right thing, even though her brother was never arrested. "This was my brother, so I don't want to hear about Ashton and Mila and Giovanni Ribisi and people that feel like they had to stick up for Danny Masterson because he was their 'bro,'" she argued. She wasn't the only one. Christina Ricci also slammed Kutcher and Kunis' behavior.

While the "Yellowjackets" star didn't name the couple, the timing of her Instagram post leaves little room for doubt. "Sometimes people we have loved and admired do horrible things," she wrote on Instagram (via Fox News). "They might not do these things to us and we only know who they were to us but that doesn't mean they didn't do the horrible things and to discredit the abused is a crime."

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

Danny Masterson wasn't the only disgraced celebrity to hurt Ashton Kutcher's public image. He was also dragged through the mud after Sean "Diddy" Combs' September 2024 arrest on sex trafficking charges, as a 2019 interview of his gloating about attending the rapper's infamous yearly "White Parties" resurfaced. "Wow, okay, I've got a lot I can't tell," he laughed in a "Hot Ones" segment. "Can't tell that [story] either. ... I'm cycling through them."

The public was quick to bring Kutcher's sketchy friendship with Diddy into the spotlight amid his trial. "Soooo... nobody going to ask the outspoken celebrity advocate against human trafficking Ashton Kutcher @aplusk how he missed his literal 'BFF' Diddy being a sex trafficker?" one X user wondered. It isn't just the general social media users who believe Kutcher knows more than he's let on. In a May episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," the popular podcaster questioned the silence of Kutcher and other celebrities, including LeBron James.

"All these people, like, you guys all went [to these parties]. You didn't see nothing? You didn't see nothing?" he asked during his conversation with Aaron Rodgers. While Kutcher has remained mum about Diddy's allegations, he is said to be concerned over the implications of his friendship with the embattled rap mogul and even considering a move to Europe over it. "Ashton's so exasperated that once again he's being dragged through the mud because of his past associations," a source told InTouch in 2024.

Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore's relationship drew a lot of attention because of their wide age gap, but it wasn't until years after their divorce that she opened up about how complicated their marriage really was. In her 2019 memoir, "Inside Out," she revealed that Kutcher cheated on her and manipulated her into believing his actions were justified. It all began when he convinced her to have a threesome. "I put him first," she penned. "So when he expressed his fantasy of bringing a third person into our bed, I didn't say no. I wanted to show him how great and fun I could be."

Those consensual sexual experiences, which Moore regretted, opened the door for Kutcher to cheat on her. After she found out, he argued that it didn't qualify as infidelity because they had already had sex with other people in the marriage. "Because we had brought in a third party into our relationship, Ashton said, that blurred the lines and, to some extent, justified what he's done," she wrote. That wasn't the only time. He had a second affair in 2011, while she was away shooting "Another Happy Day."

The 22-year-old woman revealed the affair in an interview with Us Weekly, which prompted Moore to receive a Google alert. That's how she found out. He admitted to it when she called him. "I think I could barely take a breath," she told Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" in 2019. She announced the end of the marriage shortly after. 

Demi Moore wanted to be the perfect partner to Ashton Kutcher, and giving in to having threesomes wasn't the only way she manifested that. She also started to drink again after nearly 20 years of sobriety. The couple had been on vacation when Moore said she felt pressured to have a drink. "Ashton was enjoying a glass of good red wine when he said, 'I don't know if alcoholism is a real thing — I think it's all about moderation," she wrote.

Because she was on a quest to please Kutcher at all costs, she allowed herself to have one. "I wanted to be that girl. The girl who could have a glass of wine at dinner, or do a tequila shot at a party. In my mind, Ashton wanted that, too. So I tried to become that: a fun, normal girl," she penned. Moore's drinking quickly revived her addiction, which was exacerbated when she started using Vicodin. Her lifestyle pushed her three daughters away from her (via The New York Times).

Moore's recollections of her marriage to Kutcher didn't make him look good amid his fall from grace. No one was more aware of it than Kutcher. "I was f***ing pissed," he told Esquire in 2023. "I'd finally gotten to a place where the press had really laid off me and Mila [Kunis], and my life and my family. And then the next day, [the paparazzi] are at my kids' school."

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).