From the classic pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall to the mordern-day resurgence of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Hollywood romances have long captivated the public's imagination. Though celebrity couples like Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks have managed to go the distance, most have crumbled under the weight of the intense public scrutiny that often accompanies A-list romances.
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, a beloved 2000s couple whose relationship started amid overwhelming controversy, fall into the latter category. Though the twosome’s started out on a rather high note, seemingly impervious to widespread disapproval of their 15-year age difference, they ended up calling it quits after nearly a decade of marriage. So, what exactly brought Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore’s seemingly infallible relationship to its knees? Read on to find out.
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8 How Did Ashton Kutcher And Demi Moore Meet?
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore met in 2003 at a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend in New York City. At the time, Kutcher was 25 years old and Moore was 41. Despite their remarkable age difference, the two were immediately drawn to each other.
“Keep in mind, when I was twenty-five, I became a mom,” Moore would later reveal in her 2019 memoir, Inside Out. “I skipped straight from being a young adult into motherhood and marriage. When I met Ashton, it almost felt like a do-over, like I could just go back in time and experience what it was like to be young with him - much more so than I’d ever been able to experience it when I was actually in my 20s.”
It wasn’t long after this first meeting that the twosome started dating, ultimately becoming one of the most talked about couples in Hollywood.
7 Demi Moore And Ashton Kutcher Tied The Knot Two Years After Meeting
In 2005, two years after their paths first intersected, Kutcher and Moore tied the knot in a private ceremony attended by family and friends. Reports that the twosome had finally tied the knot caught many by surprise, as both Kutcher and Moore went to extreme lengths to keep their plans under wraps.
"It was incredibly unpretentious, representing who they really are," an inside source would later tellPeople of the famed nuptials. "There was just so much love in the room."
6 Demi Moore And Ashton Kutcher Had A Near Perfect Married Life
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher had a near perfect married life for close to a decade. The two were often photographed hand-in-hand, and were seemingly unable to resist gushing about each other to the press.
Despite being in his late 20s, Kutcher even ended up becoming a model stepfather to Demi Moore’s kids. "Ashton's relationship with his own mother is really wonderful, so it made the transition to being with a woman with daughters something he didn't bat an eye at,” Moore told V Magazine in 2008. “It also says a lot about the confidence that he holds within himself as an individual."
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5 Demi Moore And Ashton Kutcher’s Marriage Turned Sour Around 2011
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore’s marriage hit a rocky patch in 2011, when reports emerged that Kutcher had cheated on Moore with a 30-year-old Pilates instructor named Sara Leal.
The scandalous dalliance, which was rumored to have taken place on the night of Moore and Kutcher’s six-year wedding anniversary, dominated tabloid headlines for weeks, much to the chagrin of all parties involved. Despite Kutcher initially denying the allegations, it quickly became apparent that his marriage to Moore would not survive the scandal.
4 When Did Ashton Kutcher And Demi Moore Get Divorced?
In November 2011, barely two months after rumors of Kutcher’s infidelity began circulating, the twosome released separate statements announcing the end of their marriage. While the statements didn’t directly address Kutcher’s infidelity, Moore made sure to include some cryptic comments that seemed to suggest she’d experienced overwhelming betrayal.
"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to end my six-year marriage to Ashton," Moore’s statement read. "As a woman, a mother and a wife there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life."
3 Ashton Kutcher Remained Close With Demi Moore’s Kids
Over a year after their separation, Ashton Kutcher filed for divorce from Demi Moore, who responded three months later requesting spousal support and attorney’s fees. The duo’s divorce was eventually finalized in 2013, amid a deluge of distressing tabloid headlines. Despite these undeniably messy circumstances, the Two and a Half Men alum managed to remain close with Moore’s kids.
"I was helping raise teenage girls through their adolescence,” he said of Moore’s daughters in a 2020 interview with WTF with Marc Maron. “I love them. I'm never going to stop loving them and respecting them and honoring them and rooting for them to be successful in whatever they are pursuing."
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2 Ashton Kutcher Moved On With Mila Kunis
After his divorce from Demi Moore was finalized, Ashton Kutcher moved on with Mila Kunis, whom he’d met on the set of That '70s Show in the late 1990s, where they’d played an on-screen couple. While the twosome remained friends over the years, it wasn't until Kutcher's divorce from Demi Moore was finalized that they began dating.
“The thing about Mila that made our relationship accelerate was that I had always admired her,” Kutcher would later tellEsquire of his current wife. “Her talents, her skills, her gifts. But I knew that she didn’t need me. And she knew that I didn’t need her.”
1 Where Do Ashton Kutcher And Demi Moore Stand Today?
Six years after their divorce was finalized, Demi Moore published her memoir, Inside Out, which contained some damning revelations about Kutcher’s infidelity and the toll it took on her health.
"I was f***ing pissed," Kutcher would later say of the memoir in his 2023 interview with Esquire. "I’d finally gotten to a place where the press had really laid off me and Mila, and my life and my family. And then the next day, [the paparazzi] are at my kids’ school."
However, a year after the media frenzy surrounding Moore’s memoir had reached its culmination, Kutcher clarified that he was still on good terms with his ex-wife. "There's no badness," he told WTF with Marc Maron. "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."
