Ashton Kutcher has come under fire again, this time for making a problematic comment about Hilary Duff when she was a minor.
A resurfaced clip shows the 45-year-old actor, who has been criticized for his support of convicted rapist Danny Masterson, on an episode of his 2003 show Punk’d, during which he spoke about a then-15-year-old Duff ( today 35) spoke introductory segment.
“Hilary Duff is with Lizzie McGuire, she has an album out too.” She will star in a movie called Cheaper by the Dozen. And she’s one of the girls we’re all waiting for until she turns 18. Along with the Olsen twins,” he added.
While Hilary was just 15, Mary-Kate and Ashley would have been 17 at the time, while Kutcher was 25.
The video was discovered after another older clip of Ashton went viral, in which the actress revealed during a joint interview with his now-wife Mila Kunis (now 40) in 2002 that Masterson had made a bet with Kutcher that he would give her a French kiss when she was 14 years old ‘little girl’.
Problematic: Ashton Kutcher has come under fire again, this time for making a problematic comment about Hilary Duff at the age of 15
Yikes: “She’s one of the girls we’re all waiting for until she turns 18. Along with the Olsen twins,” Kutcher said in a resurfaced clip from his 2003 show Punk’d
Kutcher and Duff co-starred in the movie Cheaper by the Dozen, and she appeared on an episode of the MTV prank show, which he hosted.
Kutcher is now receiving a lot of backlash over the comment, which many found “disgusting” and “creepy.”
Earlier in the day, Kutcher’s wife Mila was seen in the second unearthed clip talking about her time on That 70s Show.
The clip of Kutcher and Kunis – which originated from a joint interview on The Rosie O’Donnell Show that aired in April 2002 – resurfaced as the couple made headlines on Saturday after publicly apologizing for letters which they had written to the judge praising Masterson’s actor’s rape conviction.
The 2002 clip was made during the early years of the Fox comedy, which ran from 1998 to 2006 and starred Kunis, Kutcher and Masterson in the roles of Jackie Burkhart, Michael Kelso and Steven Hyde respectively.
At the time of the interview, Kutcher was 24 and Kunis was 19. They chatted with O’Donnell that the script early in the series called for their characters to “make out” in a scene.
“I think that’s a little bit illegal, right,” Kutcher said, noting his co-star’s young age.
Kunis said the kiss envisaged in the script was the first time she had ever been kissed, and that kiss happened during the first week of filming the retro comedy.
“Creepy”: Kutcher is now getting a lot of backlash for the comment, which many found “disgusting” and “creepy.”
String show: The father of two presented the string show from 2003 to 2007
Not very funny: Kutcher and Duff co-starred in the movie Cheaper by the Dozen and she appeared on an episode of the MTV prank show he hosted; She can be seen in 2003
Teenagers: While Hilary was just 15, Mary-Kate and Ashley would have been 17 at the time; They can be seen in 2003
“I’ve never kissed a man … I was a 14-year-old little girl and I was very scared for my life,” Kunis said.
Kunis explained how Masterson offered Kutcher $10 for a French kiss: “Danny says, ‘Dude, I’ll give you $10 if you French kiss her,'” Kunis said, turning to Kutcher and asking, “What if you stay ‘Your tongue in my mouth?’
Kutcher said that Kunis made it “sound like it was really” horny, and acknowledged that he and Masterson had “a little side bet” on the kiss.
Kutcher said Masterson bet him $20 that he “wouldn’t do it,” and he said he would because it was consistent with what was called for in the script.
O’Donnell joked, “And then the cops showed up and you were basically arrested.”
Kunis and Kutcher were at odds over whether he actually kissed her, as she said, “I didn’t let him … he never got his tongue in my mouth.”
Kutcher said he actually believes Kunis was 15 at the time of the exchange, adding, “There’s one big difference — that one year changes the whole world.”
Kunis and Kutcher released a contrite clip days after a Los Angeles judge sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life imprisonment for the 2003 rape of two women.
The latest: The video was dug up after another older clip of Ashton went viral, in which the actress revealed during a joint interview with his now-wife Mila Kunis (now 40) in 2002 that Danny Masterson had made a bet with Kutcher that he would “french kiss” her when she was a child “14-year-old little girl”
Background: Kunis said that the kiss envisaged in the script was the first time she had ever been kissed and that it happened during the first week of filming of the retro comedy
Testimony: Kutcher said Kunis “made it sound like it was really” horny and acknowledged that he and Masterson had “a little side bet” on the kiss
In a video posted to Instagram on Saturday, Kutcher and Kunis said they regretted the pain they caused with the letters posted Friday.
Kutcher said the letters asking for leniency “were intended for the judge to read and were not intended to undermine the testimonies of the victims or to re-traumatize them in any way.”
“We would never want to do that and we’re sorry if that happened.”
Kutcher said Masterson’s family reached out to her after the actor’s rape conviction in May, asking her to write character letters describing “the person we knew for 25 years.”
Masterson reunited with Kutcher in the 2016 Netflix comedy The Ranch, but was pulled from the series when an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department came to light the following year.
Los Angeles Superior Court Justice Charlaine F. Olmedo delivered the verdict to 47-year-old Masterson after hearing testimonies from the women and pleas from defense attorneys for fairness.
Kutcher described Masterson as a man who treated people “with decency, equality and generosity,” he wrote in his July 27, 2023 letter.
Kunis called Masterson “an outstanding role model and friend” and an “extraordinary older brother figure” in her letter to Olmedo.
Answer: Kutcher and Kunis publicly apologized Saturday for letters they wrote to the judge condemning Masterson following his conviction for rape
His Fate: Danny was sentenced to 30 years to life for drugging and raping two women in the early 2000s
Both rapes occurred at Masterson’s Hollywood-area home in 2003, when he was at the height of his fame on That ’70s Show. The victims said Masterson drugged them before violently raping them.
Kunis said in the apology video that her letters were not intended to undermine the victims’ statements.
“Our sympathy goes out to every single person who has ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse or rape,” she said.
Kutcher and Kunis worked with Masterson on That 70s Show — but they weren’t the only cast members to speak out.
Former That 70s Show star Debra Jo Rupp, who played the hilarious Kitty Forman, also shared her support.