Hollywood is obsessed with age. Always has been. But when Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher first went public in the early 2000s, it felt like the entire world stopped to check their birth certificates. Everyone wanted to know the exact numbers. People were fascinated, judgmental, and honestly, a little bit weird about it.
So, let's get right to it. Demi Moore was 42 years old when she married Ashton Kutcher. At the time of their wedding on September 24, 2005, Ashton was 27.
That’s a 15-year age gap. In the grand scheme of things, 15 years isn't a lifetime, but in the mid-aughts tabloid ecosystem, it was treated like a cosmic anomaly. They were the poster couple for the "cougar" trend, a term that has thankfully aged about as well as a glass of milk in the sun.
The Night Everything Changed
They met at a dinner in New York City in 2003. Demi was 40. Ashton was 25.
She had been divorced from Bruce Willis for a few years and was raising three daughters. Ashton was the "it" boy, the prankster from Punk’d and the goofy heartthrob from That '70s Show. On paper, it was a mismatch. In reality? They clicked instantly.
Demi later wrote in her memoir, Inside Out, that the relationship felt like a "do-over." It was a chance to go back and experience the kind of youthful, carefree energy she missed out on while working and raising kids in her twenties. For a while, it actually worked.
Breaking Down the Wedding Details
The ceremony itself was surprisingly low-key for two of the biggest stars on the planet. They didn't sell the photos to a glossy magazine for millions. They didn't have a 500-person guest list at a French chateau.
Instead, they got married in their Beverly Hills home. It was a traditional Kabbalah ceremony. About 100 people showed up, including Demi’s ex-husband, Bruce Willis. Think about that for a second. It’s pretty rare to have your ex-husband at your wedding, but Bruce and Ashton actually became friends. The daughters—Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah—even called Ashton "MOD" (My Other Dad).
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- Date: September 24, 2005
- Demi's Age: 42
- Ashton's Age: 27
- Location: Private home in Beverly Hills
- Dress: A cream-colored Lanvin gown
Why the Age Gap Actually Mattered (And Why It Didn't)
People love to point to the age difference as the reason things eventually fell apart, but the truth is way more complicated than a number on a driver's license.
During the marriage, they dealt with real, heavy stuff. Demi suffered a late-term miscarriage at 42, just two years into their marriage. They had even picked out a name: Chaplin Ray. Losing a child that late in a pregnancy is traumatic for any couple, let alone one living under a microscope.
They tried IVF. They tried everything to have a child together, but it never happened. Demi has since opened up about how that loss sent her into a spiral, eventually leading her to break 20 years of sobriety.
The Shifting Dynamics
As the years went on, the 15-year gap started to manifest in ways that weren't about "looking old." It was about life stages. Demi was a seasoned veteran of the industry, while Ashton's career was exploding in new directions, including tech investing and a massive role on Two and a Half Men.
By 2011, the cracks were too big to ignore.
On their sixth wedding anniversary, news broke that Ashton had cheated. He was 33; she was 48. The woman he was with was 22. The irony of the ages wasn't lost on the public. It was messy, public, and incredibly painful. Demi announced their separation in November 2011, and the divorce was finalized in 2013.
What We Learned From "Ashmi"
Looking back, the obsession with how old Demi Moore was when she married Ashton Kutcher says more about our culture than it does about them. We’re still weird about women dating younger men.
But for Demi, that era was a defining chapter of her life. It wasn't just a "fling" with a younger guy; it was an eight-year relationship that involved parenting three children and navigating profound grief.
If you’re looking for the takeaway, it’s basically this: Age is a factor, sure, but it’s rarely the "why" behind a relationship's success or failure. It’s the stuff that happens behind closed doors—the trust, the shared grief, the sobriety, the ego—that actually determines the outcome.
Next Steps for Readers:
If you're interested in the deeper, unfiltered version of this story, you should read Demi Moore's memoir, Inside Out. She doesn't hold back on the details of the marriage, the threesomes Ashton allegedly requested, or the way she "lost herself" trying to stay young for him. It's a heavy read, but it provides a lot of context that the tabloids missed back in 2005. You can also look into Ashton's 2023 interview with Esquire, where he briefly touches on the "failure" of the divorce and the pain of the miscarriage from his perspective.