The 42-year-old actor told his social media followers about a recent conversation he and his wife Mila Kunis had with their son, Dimitri, as a way to explain what the Black Lives Matter movement means, and what people who say “All Lives Matter” are missing.
“So on Saturday I posted a blackout of my social media channels, and just posted ‘BLM.’ And a lot of folks responded ‘All Lives Matter.’ And I want to talk about that a little bit, because I don’t think that the people that are posting ‘All Lives Matter’ should be canceled. I think they should be educated,” Kutcher said at the start of the video message. “We all agree all lives matter. But I had a really poignant experience tonight when I was putting my kids down to bed that lent the words for why black lives matter.”
Kutcher explained that every night when he and Kunis put their kids to bed, they read them a book. Their daughter, Wyatt, always gets to go first. However, Dimitri questioned the family’s routine that night.
“As we were reading her book, my son says, ‘Wait, why don’t I get to go first?’ And Mila said, ‘because girls go first.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but boys go first.’ And I looked at him, and said, ‘No, girls go first,’” Kutcher said.
“And I said, ‘you know why girls go first? For you and me, girls go first. And the reason why is, for some boys, girls don’t get to go at all. And so for you and me, girls go first.’”
The actor then concluded his emotional message by applying that message to the protests that are going on, as a way of explaining why he’s demonstrating solidarity with the black community. “So when it comes to ‘Black Lives Matter,’ I think what folks that are writing ‘All Lives Matter’ need to understand is that for some people,” Kutcher said, fighting back tears, “for some people black lives don’t matter at all.”
“So for us, black lives matter. So while you may have the best intentions in saying ‘All Lives Matter,’ remember, for some people black lives don’t matter at all.”
Fans responded to the video and thanked the Ranch actor for his insight. “Very well put, my friend,” one Twitter user wrote. “Thank you for always speaking out and using your platform for good,” another added.
Newsweek did not receive comments from Ashton Kutcher at the time of publication.
