Despite being a Hollywood star for more than 20 years, you might not be aware of Ashton Kutcher’s religious background. What are his religious beliefs today and is he a Scientologist?
Ashton Kutcher has never publicly announced himself as a member of the Church of Scientology. A number of his friends are longtime Scientologists and he has attended events at the Church’s Celebrity Center in Los Angeles. Kutcher was raised Catholic but also became very engaged with Kabbalah as an adult, so it is possible that he is spiritual without necessarily committing to one faith.
For more Ashton Kutcher’s ties to Scientology and his other religious interests, read on.
Kutcher and Scientology
While Kutcher has never publicly endorsed or announced himself as a member of the Church of Scientology, he is friends with several Scientologists.
Among these are his former “That ’70s Show” and “The Ranch” costar Danny Masterson, who invited Ashton and Mila Kunis to a number of Galas in the early 2000s, back when the couple were still just friends and costars.
In 2019, Kutcher and Kunis attended the Scientologist wedding of Justin Mooney and Brittany Brisco, allegedly wearing masks for much of the event, presumably to conceal their identities.
Ultimately, there’s no real reason to believe that Kutcher is a Scientologist. He did attend a number of events but this seems to have been motivated by friendship and possibly curiosity; Kutcher is known to take a strong interest in learning about religions, even if they aren’t his own.
Growing Up Catholic
Kutcher was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has described himself as coming from a “relatively conservative” Catholic family, although there is little talk of him practicing the faith in adulthood.
His twin brother, Michael, attended Mount Mercy University, a Catholic college in Cedar Rapids but Ashton enrolled in the University of Iowa. Although Kutcher has since moved away from his Catholic upbringing, it’s possible that his reluctance to officially convert to another religion is out of respect for his family, though this is just conjecture.
Interest in Judaism
As an adult, Kutcher seems to have a far greater interest in Judaism than Catholicism. He became fascinated with Kabbalah, the Jewish tradition that seeks to find an understanding of the essence of God and his workings.
He even traveled to Israel in 2013, Mila Kunis, who has been married to Kutcher since 2015, has said that Kutcher’s passion for religion was an obstacle they had to overcome when they started dating.
Kunis was born in Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union, and her Jewish parents tried to raise Mila in the faith despite the oppression of Jews in Soviet Ukraine.
She is not a practicing Jew as an adult, leading to an interesting dynamic where Kunis, who was raised Jewish but became nonreligious, married Kutcher, who was raised Catholic and later embraced Kabbalah (although he has not officially converted to Judaism).
The couple tried to find a “happy medium” where they could observe some of Judaism’s traditions without fully committing to the lifestyle. They decided to include a Shabbat in their weekly schedule, creating their own take on the practice.
While a traditional Shabbat lasts for many hours and requires a lot of preparation, Kutcher and Kunis have simply dedicated Friday night to spending time together as a family, with no modern distractions.
They also perform some of the traditional rituals, lighting two candles and combining their light, praying for their children and their bread, and then performing some blessings.
Kunis has said that it’s difficult to make their Shabbat last, due to their early age of their children, but that it’s still important to take some the time to do it every week and she believes it will become even more important as they grow older.
Considering this, it seems unlikely that Ashton Kutcher is a Scientologist.