Ashton Kutcher has finally spoken out after he became the subject of many memes following a press photocall with co-star Reese Witherspoon.
Reese and Ashton have been on the promo tour for their new movie Your Place or Mine, but their red carpet photos together ended up stealing the limelight.
The pair posed for photos with their other co-stars as well as some of the two of them together to promote the new Netflix romcom - but their "awkward" energy as they stood next to one another soon captivated fans.
Ashton was seen standing as far away from Reese as he possibly could - often with his hands in his pockets - while she also avoided touching him and had her hands clasped in front of her or on her hip.
Of course, fans were quick to meme the photos as they dropped, commenting: "I have been laughing all day at the Your Place or Mine premiere/press photos."
Another added: "need to know what happened on set…. I’m actually losing my mind at the second and third photos."
A third joked: "Omg in the second photo it looks like they're in two separate places and they copy and pasted them together in photoshop."
Thankfully, Ashton has now explained exactly why the pair of them looked so awkward in one another's company, revealing that it was his wife Mila Kunis that pointed it out to him first.
He said on the Chicks in the Office podcast: "I did not see it. My wife called me. She texted Reese and I together and said, ‘Guys, you gotta, like... act like you like each other.'"
Explaining why he stood on practically a different continent to Reese in the photos, Ashton added: "Here’s the thing: if I put my arm around her, and was like all friendly with her, I’d be having an affair with her. Like, the rumor would be that I’m having an affair with her.
"If I stand next to her and put my hands in my pockets, so there’s no chance that that could be the rumor, the rumor is we don’t like each other.
"Reese and I are really good friends, we’re really close. I don’t have to defend that."
Ashton also added that he can struggle with red carpet photocalls at the best of times because he is hard of hearing in one ear, so finds photographers calling his name from all different directions overwhelming.
"I can’t hear very well, ‘cause I’m hard of hearing in one ear and can only hear out of the other, I don’t know who’s calling my name, but I know there’s a lot of people yelling, 'Reese! Ashton! Over here!'
"If you’re gonna tell me, in that entire 20-minute period, at one point you’re not gonna have an awkward face on, then you’re better than I am and I’m cool with that."
Fair enough.
Your Place Or Mine will be available on Netflix from February 10.
