Once celebrated as one of Hollywood’s leading men, Ashton Kutcher seems to have stepped away from the spotlight.

At 47, Kutcher has been notably absent from public events, gracing the red carpet only once this year in May. His wife, Mila Kunis, 42, has also kept a low profile.

This retreat from public life is not entirely unexpected. The couple, once at the pinnacle of Hollywood’s elite, have recently been embroiled in some of the industry’s most scandalous controversies.

When actor Danny Masterson was convicted in 2023 of raping two women, Kutcher and Kunis ignited a firestorm of criticism by writing letters to support their former That ’70s Show colleague, urging the judge for leniency before Masterson received a 30-year sentence.

Following backlash, they issued apologies, and Kutcher resigned from the charity he founded to combat child sexual abuse.

Further complicating matters, when Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ home was searched in May 2024 amid a flood of accusations, Kutcher’s longstanding friendship with the beleaguered musician came under scrutiny.

Kutcher has remained silent, even after Diddy was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in July.

Ashton Kutcher and his wife Mila Kunis (pictured in 2022) have found themselves at the center of some of the most shocking and controversial news stories in recent years 

Kutcher’s once-close friend Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, but was convicted under the Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any sexual crime. He was sentenced in October to four years in prison (pictured together in 2007)

Six months later, it seems Kutcher, who has been focusing on his lucrative investments in technology companies and startups, is now ready to return to the spotlight, with Ryan Murphy’s new FX TV series The Beauty providing the first step towards a comeback when it airs next month.

‘Back in the day Ashton was a huge player in Hollywood, landing one role after another,’ an insider has told the Daily Mail. 

‘Now he’s pinning all his hopes on his new series to put him back in the spotlight. He hopes people can forgive and forget the shameful things he’s been involved in over the years.’

Kutcher has already started the promotional trail for the series, speaking at a Q&A during New York Comic Con in October and posting teasers on his Instagram. He plays a ‘big pharma billionaire with serious assets,’ according to the trailer which sees him strip down to a pair of Versace swimshorts on board a yacht.

For the first half of this year, Kutcher’s Instagram went silent. But the recent posts about the new series represent a tentative attempt to re-engage with his 4.9 million followers on the platform.

The posts have, unfortunately, attracted some comments about Diddy (‘Diddys bff everyone’) and Masterson (‘Didn’t he send a letter to the judge for that one guy?….. yikes’).

Clearly, with people unable to forget, a return to the spotlight will be no easy feat for Kutcher.

And not least because former fans have taken to scouring the internet for evidence of past ‘misdeeds’. 

One such incident comes from a 2008 clip from MTV prank show Punk’d. Kutcher, who presented the show, is seen saying that a 15-year-old Hilary Duff is ‘one of the girls that we’re all waiting for to turn 18’. He was 25 at the time. 

His defence of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in 2011 also re-emerged –  (Kutcher condemned Paterno’s firing on Twitter before later deleting the post after learning that the coach was accused of failing to tell police that his assistant Jerry Sandusky was alleged to have sexually assaulted a young boy) – as well as sections from his first wife Demi Moore’s memoir in which she accused Kutcher of cheating on her during their marriage.

Kutcher is ‘desperate to redeem himself,’ according to our insider, who added: ‘He knows he’s fallen out of favor over the years both in Hollywood and with the public for some inappropriate and misguided choices. He and Mila noticed they were getting less and less invites to Hollywood events.

When Danny Masterson was found guilty in 2023 of raping two women, the husband-and-wife duo left fans apoplectic after they shared letters of support for their former That 70’s Show costar (pictured together in 2000)

Now Kutcher is ready to return to the spotlight, with Ryan Murphy’s upcoming TV series The Beauty providing the first step towards a comeback, a source has told the Daily Mail 

‘Back in the day Ashton was a huge player in Hollywood, landing one role after another,’ they said. ‘Now he’s pinning all his hopes on his new series to put him back in the spotlight’ (pictured with his costars in October)

‘He’s embarrassed by his former transgressions. He knows the Masterson and Diddy episodes are still fresh in people’s minds. He’s so nervous that he’s literally asking his buddies if they think he’ll ever be accepted again. He’s desperate to salvage his image.’

Kutcher grew up a blue-collar kid from Iowa to factory workers Larry and Diane. Before fame came calling, he took on a string of labor and service jobs: carrying shingles with his dad as a young teen, washing dishes, working in a grocery deli, and sweeping floors at a Cheerio factory.

Aged 18, he went off to the University of Iowa to major in biochemical engineering. But life had other plans for Kutcher who was scouted as a model, later moved to Los Angeles and landed the role of Michael Kelso in hit TV series That ’70s Show. Fame came in hot pursuit, with Kutcher tallying up a list of film credits including Dude, Where’s My Car?, Just Married, and The Butterfly Effect.

As he snowballed his way to becoming one of Hollywood’s big names, he also picked up presenting gigs (MTV’s Punk’d) and a collection of executive producer credits. He entered into a suitably A-list relationship with Moore, going on to marry her in 2005, and in true Hollywood style they split six years later and filed for divorce in 2012 – the same year he started dating Kunis. They married in 2015.

It was during his time on Punk’d that he met Diddy, and so started a friendship spanning more than two decades, with the pair speaking highly of each other in countless interviews.

During an appearance on Sean Evans’ Hot Ones in 2019, Kutcher recalled how they became ‘fast friends’ and ‘used to just hang out and watch football together.’ He went onto reveal that he also played a part in getting Diddy to sign up for the New York City Marathon in 2003 after he had joined the actor on a run.

‘We finish out the run and then he was so upset over the fact that he got skunked on this run that he decided he would run the New York Marathon,’ he said. ‘He just started immediately training for the New York Marathon. He just can’t lose. Even when he’s that close to humility, it becomes a driver, so then he went out and ran the New York Marathon.’

Kutcher, who has daughter Wyatt, 10, and son Dimitri, eight, with Kunis, has also supported the I’ll Be Missing You rapper at public events, including his Unforgiveable Woman fragrance launch in New York in 2007. He was also among the A-listers invited to Diddy’s infamous annual white party in Los Angeles in 2009 where he posed for a picture alongside the mogul and his then-wife Moore.

Kutcher and Kunis, who have Wyatt, 10, and Dimitri, eight, later apologized for pleading for the judge to show leniency to Masterson before he was sentenced to 30 years (pictured in an apology video)

‘Without question, Ashton has been affected with work over the controversies he has been involved in, but we all have to also remember that he isn’t the teen heartthrob anymore and he isn’t a box office draw,’ said a second insider (pictured with Kunis in April 2023)

So, it was no surprise that his name was dragged up along with others because of their past friendships with Diddy after the rapper’s homes were raided by federal authorities on March 24, 2024 as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York. During a trial earlier this year, the rapper was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, but was convicted under the Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any sexual crime. He was sentenced in October to four years in prison.

An insider previously told the Daily Mail that Kutcher’s past association with Diddy and Masterson has cost him jobs.

His last film was rom-com Your Place or Mine, which was shot in 2021 and released in 2023. Kunis starred in Wake Up Dead Man – part of the Knives Out franchise – earlier this year, marking her first major gig since Goodrich in 2024.

‘Ashton has wanted to continue to act, but his star has been tainted for one reason or another to the point where not many people are looking for him to join their projects,’ the source said.

They claimed his Soho House deal in August – he joined a consortium led by MCR Hotels to buy Soho House & Co for $2.7 billion – was a calculated move to ‘get into the good graces of influencers, younger businesspeople and Hollywood elite that go to Soho House, to make his name mean something again.’

Now, Murphy has seemingly offered Kutcher a life raft with The Beauty, based on the comic book series by Jeremy Haun and Jason A Hurley and starring Evan Peters and Bella Hadid.

‘Without question, Ashton has been affected with work over the controversies he has been involved in, but we all have to also remember that he isn’t the teen heartthrob anymore and he isn’t a box office draw,’ said a second insider. ‘His solid TV past gives him some clout, but most of the offers that have been coming through haven’t been high end or options to be working with big names, and you can definitely blame the sour taste that people have in their mouth about him and those controversies. 

‘So, when Ryan came calling, Ashton had to do it, he would have been stupid to not take the opportunity. Ryan Murphy isn’t afraid of controversy and to him Ashton was the best person for the role. It was a win win and we all will see in a few weeks if it pays off for everyone. 

‘A comeback story is great, and this could be Ashton’s time to get back in the good graces of Hollywood.’