Do you all remember when Ashton Kutcher considered himself one of the most powerful people on Twitter? I’m not sure he doesn’t still believe that. So when Star Magazine printed a story that inferred Ashton was stepping out on his wife, Mila Kunis, Ashton took to Twitter to school Star on their error:
You should have heard how upset Mila was that I spent the day with our cousin. Sorry aunt Jodie these magazines lack integrity. pic.twitter.com/tvKdGoqRnx
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 9, 2017
It’s a good comeback. And honestly, I don’t think Star did a minute of research to find out who the girl was nor did they care – they had a paparazzi shot that they could spin so they posted it. I might even argue that it wasn’t worth the 140 characters to dispute it. But he may have had his cousin in mind, who didn’t want to be the subject of gossip. We also know that Ashton is trying to revamp his image into dutiful husband and father so I suspect that was a large part of his motivation. And Mila deserved to have this discredited, out of respect. But if I am being honest, all it did was remind me that Ashton has such a lousy track record in the fidelity department. Had I just seen the Star headline I wouldn’t have second-guessed it for a minute. I suppose that isn’t fair to Ashton because except for a few questionable reports, he has skirted cheating rumors since he’s been with Mila. If he has changed his spots and been a faithful husband then it’s his right to put it out there. I guess it just sucks to have been his first wife, Demi Moore.
It also could be that Ashton welcomed this little distraction from the trash-can fire that was supposed to be his enlightened gender equality in the workplace forum. Ashton announced on LinkedIn that he would have an open Q & A to discuss how to make the workplace more equal. He posted some questions that he thought could become a launching pad for the discussion. And boy did it. The list of questions started with “What are the Rules for dating in the workplace? Flirting?” and got worse from there. His last question on the list was, “Are these the right questions?” and the answers ranged from NO! to How can you type with your head so far up your own @ss? (my paraphrasing, btw) Joelle Emerson, CEO of Paradigm, had a thoughtful response:
Yikes. These are definitely *not* the right questions. Most rely on flawed assumptions and perpetuate problematic myths. pic.twitter.com/vUF1CVBcOt
— Joelle Emerson (@joelle_emerson) July 7, 2017
In his defense, Ashton addressed the feedback directly:
thank you everyone for the feedback on the questions I posted on LinkedIn. Good and bad. Already a learning experience.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
Looking to host an open live conversation on Monday morning on my FB page about gender equality in the work place
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
I've already offended some folks by asking the wrong questions. I'm certain given the sensitivity of the topic I will say other things wrong
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
Hope we can find space to be wrong in the pursuit of getting it right.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
We have centuries of ground to make up in a short order & I don't want the basics to be off limits. some clearly don't yet get the basics.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
If we're going to fight battles they might as well be the ones to change the world.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 9, 2017
A discussion did take place on Facebook Live yesterday. Obviously, the framework was very different given the response Ashton received. He mentioned the conversation started for him when Natalie Portman admitted that Ashton received much more money than her for No Strings Attached, which Ashton said he had no idea. The he referenced that he’d also learned a lot from Mila’s essay on the subject. He addressed the tone-deaf discussion he tried to start with the LinkedIn post and said that both his business partner, who hosted the FB Live with him, and Mila tore him apart for his carelessness. He said he heard the responses and will learn from it. We’ll see. But Ashton has a history of posting things without enough information and almost always ends up getting burned for it. When will he learn?
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Twitter
I hope he’s not cheating. For the world to know that she’s being cheated on by her husband who’s banging his own cousin would be harsh. I can’t for a second, think of more than hugging a cousin. Yikes!
If you grew up with your cousin yes it would be gross. But what if you have cousin who you didn’t see at all when growing up, then it would be a bit more acceptable by society.
Still gross
There is no way a relationship with your cousin could be anything but gross. Would society really find it acceptable if (in this hypothetical scenario) two cousins who didn’t see each other growing up ended up in a relationship? I hope not.
I don’t think I would be surprised is Ashton cheated on Mila, but I definitely don’t think he would cheat on her with his cousin…Ugh it’s so very wrong.
@ Snazzy and D: I see where you both coming from and I respect your point of view, but I would be more concerned with the genetic impact on two cousins having children than our concept of what gross is. There is nothing really sinful If two cousins never saw each other and they fall in love. We are the ones with a dirty prejudiced mind.
Family is family no matter how much you’ve seen them. Extra gross if they’re in the same generation
haha nice try but still gross.
There are many cultures on this planet where its normal to marry your cousin. I dont see why you would feel the need to say its gross.
They used to do it regularly in the 19th century. It isn’t my thing but it isn’t my culture either. I really don’t get twisted over what adults decide for themselves. Just because I wouldn’t do it and it seems genetically questionable to me doesn’t mean other people have to live by my morals and values. It doesn’t effect me and I am not them. If no one is harmed or they are slap happy then so be it.
I worked with a woman whose parents were first cousins.
not gonna lie, it did freak me out a bit, as I grew up with all of my cousins being close so the idea of marrying one? EW. however, as you said, it’s done in a lot of other cultures without even blinking, even if the two DID grow up together.
legally…(and one of our legal celebitches please chime in) I believe that the CLOSEST family member you can marry in the US is your first cousin…
My parents were cousins..no unusual birth defects here. But when I came out certain members of my extended family blamed it on my parentage. My mother and father did not grow up together. They lived in different provinces and met at a party near my mother’s house..as they say were attracted to each other immediately. They saw each other for a few months and she broke it off when she realized she was pregnant. She moved to another province and met my step-father while still pregnant..she was working as a checkout clerk at a grocery store. He was 21 years older then her and a nice, sweet, gentleman. So they married after I was born and I was lead to believe he was my father..I suppose to protect me from stigma and ugly comments
You’ve obviously never seen Les Cousins Dangereux. 🙂
I don’t know. I kind of have a weird soft spot for the guy- but mainly them as a couple.
I think he has settled down in a lot of ways – and honestly, the amount of work he’s put in regarding child abuse and catching online predators – I can’t throw too much shade his way. Some people genuinely change when they’re in the ‘right’ relationship, or when they become parents. He really seems to WANT to be a better person, and I give him a lot of credit for that.
+1
He seems like a self serious douche in all his interviews and I remember one in which he said he didn’t attend his own brothers wedding and barely speaks with his twin. BUT I do give him props for his continued work on child trafficking and his very forward thinking investments. Like most people, he is a complex man I guess. I love Mila so he better do good by her
I am pretty sure he only has one brother, who is his twin…who has cerebral palsy. All I’ve heard is how extremely close they are. Ashton had even started taking biochemical engineering in university, in the hopes of finding a way to cure his brother.
His twin only says how much he loves him and how he has always been there for him. His brother has heart problems and Ashton has said he was afraid everyday that he would wake up or come home and his brother would be dead. He talked about feeling guilty that he was strong and his brother was sick. In fact his mother didn’t even know she had twins. Ashton was big and healthy and his brother was tiny and wasn’t supposed to survive. He has never abandoned him. He and Mila did go to his wedding.
I think he gets way more shade than he deserves. Besides they are too adorable together.
Yep. And I have vague memory of Demi trying to cut his family out of their lives, which is really awful considering how close he is and loves his brother who is ill! I like Demi but that was seriously bad for both Ashton and his family.
I love Mila too and he seems to be better with her. I hope he doesn’t mess it up, for her sake and his, kids etc.
I do, too. I think they are adorable together.
Agree 100. I think he got in way too deep with Demi at a really young age. He became a father figure to her kids, the oldest is only about 10 years younger than him. I believe Demi let him mess around as long as she was there but he took it too far. He seems to really love Mila. She is super smart and he respects her. I think he genuinely wants to be a better person. I am totally different than who I was in my twenties and make different decisions as a parent. I believe some people can change life course.
Check Celebitchy. Read the first headline. Cackle for half an hour.
Scrolling up to read this fascinating, intriguing tale.
Me, too. I have pretty limited interest in Ashton, but that headline got me. I could hear the dueling banjos..
Problem is, if you deny one story, you gotta deny them all, or else the one(s) you’re silent about will be considered true. Fidelity does seem to be his sore spot, don’t it?
Isn’t this the same magazine that exposed him when he cheated on Demi Moore on their anniversary?
Not to completely exonerate him but I do think he and Demi had a more open relationship with threesomes etc and now I think he’s in family mode with young kids. When they get a little older we will see if the family guy sticks.
He’s an a**hole, but he never really seemed committed to Demi, and it was more like she was the one trying to do stuff young people do, more than him maturing.
He was a boy-toy, then as soon as the first pay check from Two and a Half Men arrived, he was gone.
It’s pretty funny that the woman they thought they had the scoop on turned out to be his cousin, but given his history, I can see why they attempted it.
Good heavens, he spends the day with his cousin and this happens?? What bull, I’m close to my cousin doesn’t mean we are sleeping together!
How embarrassing for both of them. That’s what happens though when it’s assumed that if two people of the opposite sex are hanging out together and at least one of them is a celebrity, they’ve got to be banging- without any proof. His track record with infidelity makes it easy though.
Ashton tries to spread positivity.
Sometimes he fails at that.
But he tries. I think he deserves credit for that.
I doubt he will ever learn. He does not have to learn. The world is his oyster in so many ways; he seemingly has no idea how different his life could be if he was not a famous, wealthy, white male.
To me he’s a bit like Chris Pratt: a straight white dude with an original streak and a 1950’s mentality but clever and good-hearted enough to change and grow. At least he tried.
IA. He is at least trying to use his celebrity for good.
Ashton is 39 now with two children and happily married. People grow up and decide to try to become a better person. I honestly believe he spoke up fast to make sure this story didn’t get repeated a thousand times before he set the record straight. I am sure they have talked about his behavior before and I don’t think she would stick around if he publicly embarrassed her or cheated. She isn’t the long suffering type.
Ashton has been crazy about her long before they started dating. He has the woman he wanted and a family. Why mess it up?
Stardom can make nice people turn into raging egomaniacal asses. Sometimes they realize it and work on themselves.
People can change if they want to. Until he does something douchey I will believe him. He has never been too far gone to write him off. A guy being cocky in his 20s and early 30s is moons away from a 50 year old scumbag chasing strange. Looking hard at Ben Affleck. Or worse the 71 year old bloated Tangerine who is supposedly our President.
Star should be ashamed of themselves. His poor cousin geesh.
Maybe I’m naive, but I really don’t think he’s cheating on Mila. I think she’s it for him, or at least I want to think so. I’ve always been a sucker for the ‘friends falling in love years later’ cliche…
He’s the biggest bro to ever bro, but I do like that he was like, “sorry about that guys. I’m still learning.” I respect that.
But maybe he should have done some learning BEFORE he agree to take on a role like that.
His questions show he had absolutely no concept of the actual issues he was meant to be leading a conversation on.
I don’t have patience for people who think wilful ignorance is an excuse for their failures.
Yes, why take on a role he obviously can’t fulfill? His ego prevents him from seeing that he’s not in a position to teach others.
I remember one of Brad Pitt’s nieces posting a similar tweet when a tabloid said she was Maddox’s girlfriend.She said something like, Gross a tabloid thinks I’m dating my little cousin.Lol
These tabloids are always “reaching”.
Those questions were so tone deaf. He wants to start a discussion on Workplace diversity when he doesn’t seem to have done one iota of research on the subject to start.
Right? He didn’t even try to understand the basic fundamentals of the issue he was meant to be leading a discussion on.
Why even agree to do it if you can’t be bothered doing 5 minutes research!
Did he even talk to any women in STEM? Like, he was SO off base. And this is Ashton Kutcher in a nutshell. He’s so confident that he’s an expert based on this image that he’s created as a “tech guru” but he has no actual knowledge and no desire to actually learn. He’s the epitome of the saying ‘may you have the confidence of a mediocre white man’.
I get the feeling that he thinks he is so much smarter than he is and that if he knows a few details about a subject then he is automatically an expert on it. I know someone like that and it is so annoying. With Ashton, I have a feeling it is more narcissism than anything else. Like he wants to be the leader of a “movement” with little to no knowledge on the subject at all.
The first question on his list was about dating an flirting in the workplace. I just can’t with him.
And yes, I agree with your assessment there!
His questions on workplace equality were ridiculous. I appreciate that he wanted to broach the subject of workplace equality but bone up on the subject first ASSTON. I mean how was he going to open a discussion about a subject when he didn’t even know how to begin. Let’s remember this was the same guy who originally defended Joe Paterno for being ousted at Penn without bothering to find out why. He’s never bothered with gathering information before opening his mouth & inserting foot…..
He’s trying 40,000,000,000% harder than most men.
The end.
I must be getting soft in my old age. I wasn’t bothered by his response. The questions were idiotic, but when he was called out on it, he didn’t get defensive. He owned it and apologized. A real apology too. Not an “I’m sorry if you were offended apology”. I don’t care how boneheaded you are when you start off, as long as you can learn and grow.