Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis recently caused outrage with their statements about convicted rapist Danny Masterson. They have since apologized for this. Now a clip has come to light in which the actor makes a statement that seems quite questionable today.
It’s about a video, an excerpt from Ashton Kutcher’s, 45, show “Punk’d”. The episode dates from 2003, so it’s over 20 years old. In it, Mila Kunis, 40,’s husband allows himself to be persuaded to make a statement that was meant to be funny at the time, but is anything but. A joke at the expense of a minor is not something to be laughed at in this day and age, when campaigns like #metoo and a generally much more sensitive approach to sexualized language prevail.
Ashton Kutcher overshot the mark
The comment, with which the actor wanted to get a laugh, referred to his then 15-year-old fellow actress Hilary Duff, now 35. Kutcher says in the clip: “Hilary Duff can be seen in ‘Lizzie McGuire’ and she also has an album “She’s going to be in a movie called ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’. She’s one of those girls that we can’t wait for to turn 18. Just like the Olsen twins.” He was clearly alluding to the fact that one would be committing a criminal offense if one were to sexually approach the then 15-year-old. Kutcher and Duff starred side by side in the film. It is not known whether anything ever happened between them.
“Disgusting and creepy”
The clip has now emerged as a result of the character letters that Kutcher and Kunis wrote for the court about their series colleague Danny Masterson and is making the rounds online. The “Butterfly Effect” star now has to put up with a lot of critical comments. Many find his flippant saying “disgusting” and “creepy”.
Of course, you have to keep in mind that the video is over 20 years old and the then 25-year-old certainly just wanted to get a laugh with his saying. Sexually connoted jokes about minors weren’t funny in the early 2000s, but the awareness of them was perhaps different back then. So it’s no wonder that Ashton Kutcher is now facing a lot of backlash.
Sources used: Twitter.com, dailymail.co.uk
