Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore (FilmMagic)
Demi Moore’s head-scratching, May-December marriage to Ashton Kutcher is over.
“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to end my six-year marriage to Ashton,” the actress announced yesterday.
Kutcher characteristically responded on Twitter: “I will forever cherish the time I spent with Demi.” His message then alluded to the strains on their tortured relationship: “Marriage is one of the most difficult things in the world and unfortunately sometimes they fail. Love and light, AK.”
The marriage of the 49-year-old Moore and 33-year-old Kutcher has been under a microscope as reports intensified about his alleged serial philandering.
Moore hinted at how she reached the breaking point in the announcement she released to the news media.
“As a woman, a mother and a wife, there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life,” she said.
She added, “This is a trying time for me and my family, and so I would ask for the same compassion and privacy that you would give to anyone going through a similar situation.”
Neither Moore nor Kutcher mentioned terms of divorce, and since each is worth more than $100 million, the dissolution of their marriage could end up in a megabucks court battle.
In recent months, it appeared that they kept in touch with one another mainly through Twitter — since Kutcher was spending his time on the West Coast in his new role on “Two and a Half Men,” while Moore was in New York for a role in the movie “Magic Mike.”
Moore, who was previously married twice, including 13 years to Bruce Willis, began dating Kutcher in 2003. They married in 2005.
Two years later, she said the relationship “caught us both by surprise, and particularly him.”
“If somebody would have said, ‘OK, here is the prediction: You’re going to meet a man 25 years old and he’s going to see being with you and having your three kids as a bonus,’ I would have said, ‘Keep dreaming.’ ”
Kutcher became a stepfather to Moore’s three daughters with Willis, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Belle. Moore and Kutcher were photographed socializing with Willis and attended his wedding to model-actress Emma Heming in 2009.
The rocky relationship was tested in 2010, when a 22-year-old woman claimed Kutcher had sex with her, and again in September, when another 22-year-old said the actor had cheated with her on the star couple’s sixth wedding anniversary.
The day before that anniversary, Moore ominously quoted philosopher Epictetus: “When we are offended at any man’s fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.”
With AP