Despite their marriage ending in scandal, Ashton Kutcher is speaking very highly of Demi Moore two decades later.
The actor and businessman, 47, was married to the Ghost actress, 63, from 2005 until they split in 2013 over allegations that he had been unfaithful to her.
But now, Ashton has lauded the star’s performance in the highly decorated 2024 body horror film The Substance, which sees fading actress Elisabeth Sparkle take a black market drug to become a younger and sexier version of herself, played by Margaret Qualley.
Ashton, who cited ‘irreconcilable differences’ when he filed for divorce from Demi, has said he feels ‘so proud’ of her Oscar-nominated portrayal of the once-adored starlet in the project that offers a bleak outlook on fame and youth.
While promoting his new FX series, The Beauty, Ashton told Entertainment Tonight: ‘I mean, one, Demi’s performance in The Substance, obviously, she got extraordinary accolades, I’m so proud of her.’
‘She killed it,’ he declared.
The former couple met in the early 2000s at a casual dinner with pals and started dating shortly afterwards.
In September 2005, Demi and Ashton said ‘I do’ in front of 100 guests at their home in Beverly Hills, California, which a friend of hers described as a ‘beautiful wedding’ to People.
But the pair split up in November 2011, with their divorce finalised in November 2013.
As for what Demi has shared about their relationship, in her 2019 memoir, Inside Out, the Indecent Proposal star made some surprising revelations.
She wrote that the pair had threesomes and explained she ‘wanted to show him how great and fun’ she was, but her wild side backfired on her after Ashton allegedly used it as an excuse to cheat.
Demi penned: ‘Because we had brought a third party into our relationship, Ashton said that blurred the lines and, to some extent, justified what he’d done.’
In 2020, Ashton – who, aged 26, took on Demi’s three daughters, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah, from her previous marriage to 70-year-old actor Bruce Willis – said everything is ‘all good’ now between him and Demi.
Appearing on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, he added: ‘There’s no badness. It’s all good; we don’t hang out.
‘I make a really conscious effort to stay in touch with the girls. It was eight years.’
Ashton – who, with Demi, looked into other fertility treatments and adoption after they suffered a miscarriage six months into their late-term pregnancy in 2006 – continued: ‘I was helping raise teenage girls through their adolescence. I love them.
‘I’m never going to stop loving them and respecting them and honouring them and rooting for them to be successful in whatever they are pursuing.’
In 2023, Ashton – who admitted the responsibility of being a stepdad to Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah, aged 26, was ‘a lot’ – said he had to learn to ‘own’ his mistakes so he could move on following his and Demi’s divorce.
He told Esquire: ‘Nothing makes you feel like a failure like divorce. Divorce feels like a wholesale f***ing failure. You failed at marriage. You own the s**t you did wrong, and you go forward.’
Ashton went on to marry his That 70s Show co-star Mila Kunis, 42, in 2015 and has Wyatt, 10, and eight-year-old Dimitri with her.
The A-list couple are pretty low-key these days, having made their first joint awards show appearance this week at the Golden Globes, their last being at the Oscars in 2022.
Their gradual reclusion from public life is likely due to the turbulence they faced in 2023 when their former That 70s Show co-star Danny Masterson was convicted of raping two women.
Ashton and Mila sent the judge letters of support and positive character references during his trial, which generated widespread backlash after it became public knowledge.
Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life behind bars, and Ashton and Mila apologised when he was found guilty.
‘They were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or retraumatise them in any way,’ Ashton said of the letters.
‘We would never want to do that, and we’re sorry if that has taken place.’
Black Swan star Mila, whose latest acting role was in Knives Out 3, stated: ‘We support victims.’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
