Ashton Kutcher has addressed his highly publicised split from his ex-wife Demi Moore four years ago, stating that the break-up and fall-out has helped shape the man he is today.

The 39 year old actor and father of two received the Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character Award in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday evening (April 8th), and recognised the irony of the prize considering his name had been smeared across the tabloids just a few years ago with rumours of infidelity in his previous marriage to Hollywood star Moore.

“I’m also probably the first person to get this award for character who had, like, his name splashed across every gossip magazine as an adulterer like five years ago,” he told the attendees.

Ashton KutcherAshton Kutcher addressed those Demi Moore infidelity rumours from years ago

Kutcher is now married to actress Mila Kunis, and welcomed his second child, four month old son Dimitri, with her at the end of last year.

“Character comes when those magazines tear you apart for something you may or may not have done and you gotta go out and perform tomorrow — with everyone looking at you like you might be an adulterer,” he continued.

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He and Moore had married in 2005 and parted ways in 2011 before formally divorcing two years after that. In 2015, he married his former ‘That ‘70s Show’ colleague Kunis and welcomed their daughter Wyatt later that year.

Paying tribute to Kunis and his family, he said that she “kicks my a** on character every day” and said that his young children were “the greatest, greatest lesson in character in my life.”

“When my wife and I had these kids and we got to share that amazing, amazing, amazing honour, my first response was, I wanted to call my parents and say, ‘I’m sorry, because I never knew how much you loved me’,” Kutcher finished his speech.

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