The Kiss That 'Completely Changed' '80s Star Alyssa Milano's Life

Alyssa Milano first found fame in the mid-1980s, making her feature-film debut in director Marisa Silver's 1984 coming-of-age drama "Old Enough." That very same year, just one month after the movie was released, Milano began playing easily the most iconic role of her early stardom: Samantha Micelli on the ABC sitcom "Who's the Boss?" The show not only lasted throughout the rest of the 1980s, but even made its way into the early '90s, with Milano sticking around for the whole, eight-season ride. Along the way, she picked up other high-profile jobs as well, such as starring opposite future Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1985 flick "Commando." 

However, if you ask Milano herself, the moment fame and notoriety truly changed her life came when she went on a talk show and proffered a kiss that reverberated all over the world. During the 1980s, Milano befriended a boy named Ryan White, a fan of hers who had contracted HIV and subsequently developed AIDS through a contaminated blood transfusion. Near the end of the decade, the two made a joint appearance on "The Phil Donahue Show," during which Milano kissed White on the cheek in an effort to combat misinformation about AIDS by proving that it could not be transmitted by casual physical touch. Still, at a time when the disease was barely understood and highly stigmatized, the actor's gesture resulted in her enduring a significant amount of vitriol. 

Nevertheless, Milano firmly stood by her decision, which she later affirmed taught her a lot about herself. "That was the moment that my life completely changed because I realized what it meant to have a voice by being famous and what it meant to do good with that voice," she remarked in October 2022 (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Shortly after his now-infamous appearance with Alyssa Milano on "The Phil Donahue Show," Ryan White tragically passed away at the age of 18, in April 1990. And while the "Charmed" star's acting career has continued since then, so too has her activism. Over the years, Milano has been a vocal advocate for disease prevention, gun reform, safe abortion access, and LGBTQ+ rights, among many other causes. She's also been credited with revitalizing the #MeToo movement originally created by Tarana Burke. According to Milano, all of these efforts have been informed by the fateful moment she shared with White all those years ago. "There is nothing about my activism that isn't directly motivated by my love for Ryan White," the "Who's the Boss?" breakout star shared in a December 2017 interview with NBC News.

"He taught me that I had a power as a celebrity to change things and to stand up for what's right, and he gave me the courage to do that," Milano continued, concluding, "My activism today is a direct reflection of that little boy." During a subsequent appearance on Kevin Bacon's charity-focused "Six Degrees" podcast, in October 2023, Milano once again spoke about how being a part of the early movement to dispel the misinformation surrounding AIDS shaped her trajectory from that point forward. "That changed everything for me. Love and activism intertwined, and my journey began," she enthused on Instagram alongside a clip from the episode in question.