LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A clip of Ashton Kutcher's "brownface" portrayal of a Indian producer in an old advertisement has recently resurfaced online.
Amid the backlash over Kutcher and his wife Mila Kunis sending character reference letters in support of Danny Masterson right before his sentencing, the old Popchips ad cast Kutcher's past in an even more unfavorable light.
Needless to say, once the old Popchips ad started circulating online, it wasn't long before netizens called out the actor's casual racism.
Another old video of Kutcher also fueled the flames of outrage where the actor referred to Hilary Duff and the Olsen twins as "the girls we're all waiting for to turn 18."
Ashton Kutcher's Popchips ad had sparked racism controversy in the past
According to ABC News, when Kutcher's Popchips commercial first released back in 2012, the ad's "brownface" portrayal immediately kicked off a racism controversy.
In the ad, the 'Two and a Half Men' star seemingly wore a brown facepaint and played an Indian producer named Raj.
Kutcher's character from the ad was portrayed as a man looking for love and spoke in an alleged sing-song accent.
The ad, at the time, was immediately taken down after the controversy. But it has found it's way back onto social media platforms through posts referencing the ad to point out Kutcher's problematic behavior over the years.
What did netizens says about Ashton Kutcher's Popchips ad?
A X (formerly Twitter) user who recently shared a screenshot from the controversial ad wrote, "Like i see people criticise him a lot but i also see people defend him like he supports a rapist AND hes a racist HOW do you keep defending this man."
"its ashton kutcher hes a white man his biggest role i think was that 70’s show and in the commercial he wears makeup to change his skin tone, if i remember right he also does a really sh*t indian accent, and on top of that the portrayal includes that hes a bollywood producer," they explained to another user.
"oh wow," another user simply commented.
"forgot about Ashton Kutcher’s brownface Popchips ad," another user tweeted.
"look up ashton kutcher popchips. it's pretty bad!," one said.
What did Ashton Kutcher say about Danny Masterson?
In his letter supporting Masterson's overall good character, Kutcher wrote, "While I’m aware that the judgment has been cast as guilty on two counts of rape by force and the victims have a great desire for justice, I hope that my testament to his character is taken into consideration in sentencing."
"Any time that we were to meet someone or interact with someone who was on drugs, or did drugs, he made it clear that that wouldn't be a good person to be friends with," he continued.
"And for me, that was an implication that if I were to do drugs, he wouldn't want to be friends with me, which is something I never would want to risk or jeopardize," the actor further added.
"There was an incident where we were at a pizza parlor and a belligerent man entered who is berating his girlfriend," Kutcher shared.
"We had never met or seen these people before, but Danny was the first person to jump to the defense of this girl," he added.
"It was an incident he didn't have to get involved in but proactively chose to because the way this man was behaving was not right. He has always treated people with decency, equality, and generosity," Kutcher continued.
"I do not believe he is an ongoing harm to society and having his daughter raised without a present father would [be] a tertiary injustice in and of itself. Thank you for taking the time to read this," he concluded.
Kutcher and Kunis both issued an apology for their respective letters but continue to attract the ire of former fans and netizens on social media.
