Ashton Kutcher has been a Hollywood star for more than 20 years since his breakout role in “That ’70s Show”. Does Kutcher smoke in reality?
Ashton Kutcher was a heavy smoker for several years but quit in the mid-2000s He has credited Allen Carr’s book “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking” for helping him quit, saying that it’s structured approach helped him. Kutcher seemingly no longer smokes at all, despite resuming the habit for a period after divorcing Demi Moore.
For more on Ashton Kutcher’s time as a smoker and how he was able to leave it behind, read on.
Kutcher and Smoking
Kutcher’s role of Kelso and his fellow “That ’70s Show” characters were frequent smokers, with their “Circle” scenes forming one of the most memorable parts of the show.
However, Kelso and friends were implied to be smoking marijuana rather than tobacco and the use of the drug was never explicitly shown onscreen, leaving the act to the viewer’s imagination.
In reality, Kutcher was a heavy smoker of tobacco cigarettes for several years. During a 2006 interview with Jay Leno, he told Jay that he had quit smoking about eighteen months prior.
Kutcher credited “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking”, written by Allen Carr, with helping him quit. He described Carr’s unique method, which does not encourage the reader to immediately stop smoking but gradually reduces their cigarette use throughout their reading.
At the end of the book, Carr tells the reader to smoke their last cigarette and, for Kutcher, the method apparently worked.
During the press tour for his 2006 film “The Guardian”, Kutcher revealed that he would no longer smoke onscreen. He believed that it would set a bad example for younger viewers and that his position as an influential public figure gave him a responsibility to stop.
Interestingly, Kutcher can be seen using tobacco in his recent comedy “The Ranch”, although this series is on Netflix and intended for an adult audience so his attitude might have softened in this instance.
When Kutcher quit, he was apparently smoking as many as 40 cigarettes every day. He was urged to quit by his then-wife Demi Moore and was able to kick the habit, at least for a while. It seems that the couple’s struggles and eventual separation might have pushed Kutcher back into the habit.
A Smoking Kiss
Despite Kutcher apparently quitting smoking for an extended period thanks to Carr’s book, it seems he started again at some point before he started dating his wife, Mila Kunis.
During an appearance on “The Howard Stern Show”, Kutcher talked about how Kunis was a guest at his housewarming party. At the time, Kutcher was smoking again and Kunis was in the process of trying to quit.
Mila apparently asked Ashton to breathe his cigarette smoke towards her so she could enjoy the taste and smell without actually smoking. The pair got closer and closer throughout the evening, culminating with their first real kiss.
Although this can seem slightly unpleasant to non-smokers, it at least gave Kunis an excuse to get closer to her longtime friend and former co-star, with the couple marrying in 2015.
We don’t have confirmation that the couple has successfully quit smoking in the time since however they also haven’t been spotted in public partaking in the habit in recent years.
As Mila was already in the process of quitting when they got together and Ashton quit once before, even if it was temporary, we can probably assume that neither of them is regular smokers anymore.
This seems especially likely now that they have two young children, one of the leading reasons to stop. It’s entirely possible that Ashton had resumed the habit following his unpleasant breakup from Demi and stopped again shortly after beginning his relationship with Mila, though this is just a theory.