Health Issues Ashton Kutcher Has Dealt With

Ashton Kutcher has had a pretty tumultuous career, with some massive high points — such as his role as Michael Kelso on "That '70s Show" — and devastating low points, such as the embarrassing affair that led to his divorce from Demi Moore. As his personal dramas and scandals played out in the public eye, those low points began to impact his career, and his 2026 horror series "The Beauty" was met with either indifference or contempt. The failure of Kutcher's comeback attempt proved his reputation had soured. Sadly, through it all, Kutcher has faced some serious challenges to his health.

The actor – who has been married to former co-star Mila Kunis since July 2015 – has had to contend with some serious, potentially life-threatening medical issues throughout his career which very nearly cost him everything. Among them was a bout of a rare form of vasculitis, an autoimmune condition that Kutcher said caused him to lose his sight, hearing, and his mobility. The actor revealed his experiences with the illness during an episode of "Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge" back in 2022, and explained just how bad it got.

"Two years ago, I had this weird, super rare form of vasculitis, that, like, knocked out my vision, it knocked out my hearing, it knocked out, like, all my equilibrium. It took me like a year to build it all back up," Kutcher shared (via People), adding, "You don't really appreciate it until it's gone." According to the Mayo Clinic, vasculitis has various forms, but is characterized by an inflammation of the blood vessels that can lead to organ damage. Realizing the severity of his condition, Kutcher said that he felt "lucky to be alive."

Ashton Kutcher's career is marked by a slew of controversial moments we cannot forget and acting choices we can't understand. For some, the oddest thing of all might be just how invested Kutcher became while playing Apple founder Steve Jobs in 2013's "Jobs." The film itself was poorly received, but Kutcher's portrayal of the legendary figure earned quite a bit of praise. He certainly worked hard to emulate Jobs; in fact, he put so much effort in that he landed himself in the hospital twice.

As Kutcher explained during an appearance on "Hot Ones" in 2019, he was studying up on Jobs and trying to learn how to walk in his shoes, when he discovered that the tech mogul used to consume copious quantities of carrot juice. "So I started drinking carrot juice non-stop, like, all day long," Kutcher recalled. Things were fine until shortly before production began, and he suddenly felt an intense and worsening pain in his back. "I ended up in the hospital on the maximum dose of Dilaudid because my pancreas was, like, crazy out of whack."

It turns out that Kutcher's unique and extreme eating habits had given him pancreatitis. This was reaffirmed by his wife, Mila Kunis, when she appeared on "Hot Ones" in 2021 and said Kutcher was actually  "downplaying" just how bad the situation was. "He was so dumb. He also, I think, only ate grapes at one point," Kunis shared. "It was so stupid. We ended up in the hospital twice with pancreatitis."