Ashton Kutcher under fire for problematic comment he made about Hilary Duff when she was 15 in resurfaced clip – amid backlash over support of convicted rapist Danny Masterson

Ashton Kutcher has come under fire again, this time for making a problematic comment about Hilary Duff when she was underage.

A resurfaced clip shows the actor, 45 – who has been criticized for his support of convicted rapist Danny Masterson – in a 2003 episode of his show Punk’d, where he spoke about a then 15-year-old Duff (now 35) during the introduction segment.

‘Hilary Duff plays in Lizzie McGuire, she also has an album out. She’s going to star in a movie called Cheaper by the Dozen. And she’s one of the girls we’re all waiting for to turn 18. Along with the Olsen twins,” he added.

While Hilary was only 15, Mary-Kate and Ashley would have been 17 years old at the time, while Kutcher was 25 years old.

The video was unearthed after another older clip of Ashton went viral, where the actress revealed during a joint 2002 interview with his current wife Mila Kunis (now 40) that Masterson had bet Kutcher to ‘French kiss’ her when she had a ‘ 14 year old’. -old girl’.

Kutcher and Duff starred together in the film Cheaper by the Dozen and they appeared in an episode of the MTV prank show, which he hosted.

Kutcher is now receiving a lot of criticism for the comment, which many consider “gross” and “creepy.”

Earlier in the day, Kutcher’s wife Mila was pictured in the second unearthed clip talking about their time on That 70s Show.

The clip of Kutcher and Kunis — taken from a joint interview on The Rosie O’Donnell Show that aired in April 2002 — resurfaced as the couple made headlines Saturday after publicly apologizing for letters they wrote in honor of Masterson had written to the judge. condemn the actor to rape.

The 2002 clip took place during the early years of the Fox comedy, which ran from 1998-2006 and starred Kunis, Kutcher and Masterson in the respective roles of Jackie Burkhart, Michael Kelso and Steven Hyde.

At the time of the interview, Kutcher was 24 and Kunis was 19. They talk to O’Donnell about how early in the show the script called for their characters to “make out” in a scene.

“I almost think this is a little bit illegal, right,” Kutcher said, noting his co-star’s young age.

Kunis said the scripted kiss was the first time she had ever been kissed, and that it took place during the first week of filming the retro comedy.

“I’ve never kissed a man before… I was a 14-year-old girl and I was extremely scared for my life,” Kunis said.

Kunis explained how Masterson offered to bet Kutcher $10 to French kiss her: “Danny says, ‘Dude, I’ll give you $10 if you French kiss her,'” Kunis said, turning to Kutcher and asking, ‘What, if you stay to cling? your tongue in my mouth?’

Kutcher said Kunis “made it sound like it was really” lustful, and admitted that he and Masterson “had a little bet” about the kiss.

Kutcher said Masterson bet him $20 that he “wouldn’t do it,” and he said he would, saying it was consistent with what was called for in the script.

O’Donnell joked, “And then the police came and you were pretty much arrested.”

Kunis and Kutcher disagreed over whether he actually kissed her, with her saying, “I didn’t let him… he never got his tongue in my mouth.”

Kutcher said he actually believed Kunis was 15 at the time of the exchange, adding, “There’s a big difference: that one year changes the whole world.”

Kunis and Kutcher released a contrite clip days after a Los Angeles judge sentenced Masterson Thursday to 30 years to life for the 2003 rape of two women.

In a video posted to Instagram on Saturday, Kutcher and Kunis said they regretted the pain they may have caused with the letters, which were made public on Friday.

Kutcher said the letters asking for leniency were “intended to be read by the judge and not to undermine the victims’ testimonies or retraumatize them in any way.”

“We would never want to do that and we are sorry if that happened.”

Kutcher said Masterson’s family approached them after the actor was convicted of the May rapes and asked them 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 written off the show when the Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation was revealed the following year.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo handed down the sentence to Masterson, 47, after hearing statements from the women and pleas for fairness from attorneys.

Kutcher described Masterson as a man who treated people “with decency, equality and generosity,” he wrote in his July 27, 2023 letter.

Kunis, in her letter to Olmedo, called Masterson “an excellent role model and friend” and an “exceptional older brother figure.”

Both rapes took place 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 their letters were not intended to undermine the victims’ testimonies.

“Our hearts go out to anyone 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 lend their voices.

Former That 70s Show star Debra Jo Rupp, who played the hilarious Kitty Forman, also shared her support.