The Moment
Jessica Simpson is taking us back to the early 2000s, low-rise jeans and all, to revisit one very specific word from Ashton Kutcher: “Why?”
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Simpson said she will “never forget” Kutcher’s reaction when he found out she was a virgin at 22 while guest-starring on That ’70s Show back in 2002. According to Simpson, when she told him she was saving sex for marriage, his immediate response was a single, stunned question: “Why?”
Her answer at the time? “Because I haven’t met my husband yet.”
Simpson, now 45, appeared on the hit sitcom as Annette, the bubble-gum blonde love interest to Kutcher’s iconic goofball Michael Kelso. She told ET she was “very innocent” then and not thinking about anyone else’s sex life: “I [wasn’t] thinking about other people and their sex lives at all.” She even joked, “I’ve always been open. Legs crossed, but open.”
She recalled explaining to Kutcher, during a scene they were shooting, that her character couldn’t go through with sex because she herself was a virgin. That offscreen conversation, she says, mirrored the onscreen arc almost eerily.
On the show, when Annette reveals she is a virgin, Kelso blurts out “What?” before scrambling into a joke: “A coincidence. Me too.” Watching the old clip recently, Simpson reportedly burst out laughing at both the scripted line and a throwback interview she did about the role.
As of publication, Kutcher’s camp hasn’t weighed in; his rep did not respond to a request for comment reported in coverage of the interview.
Jessica Simpson shares Ashton Kutcher’s one-word response to finding out she was a virgin at 22 https://t.co/hdOtoFqZeu pic.twitter.com/792Hg1mcNd
— Page Six (@PageSix) November 24, 2025
The Take
I have to say: Ashton Kutcher responding to “I’m a virgin” with “Why?” might be the most early-2000s male energy I’ve ever heard. It’s like someone bottled every Abercrombie ad from 2002 and turned it into a single syllable.
But underneath the punchline, there’s something surprisingly modern about the way Simpson is revisiting this story. She’s not embarrassed. She’s not defensive. She’s amused, a little bemused, and very clearly in control of the narrative.
Back then, Simpson’s virginity wasn’t just personal; it was part of the marketing. She wore abstinence like an accessory, right alongside the low-rise jeans and rhinestone belts. She spoke openly to People around 2000 about saving herself for marriage, saying her virginity was something she “stand[s] strong in.” It was the era of purity rings, boy bands promising to wait, and parents proudly announcing their daughter’s “values” in magazine profiles.
Now, hearing her tell the story as a 45-year-old divorced mother of three, it hits differently. You can feel the distance. It’s like watching your old club photos in HD: equal parts cringe, nostalgia, and “You know what? I survived all that.”
And that “Why?” from Kutcher? It isn’t shocking so much as telling. It captures exactly how Hollywood, and really a lot of young men at the time, tended to treat women’s boundaries: more as a curiosity than a given. Not outright hostile, just vaguely confused that a beautiful, working actress wasn’t automatically onboard with the script, onscreen or off.
To Simpson’s credit, she doesn’t turn this into a takedown. She doesn’t accuse Kutcher of anything beyond being surprised. Instead, she folds it into a funny, slightly absurd memory about a time when she was trying to honor her faith and values inside a business that runs on sex appeal.
That contrast is the real story. Early in her career, Simpson’s virginity was treated like a public commodity: promoted, questioned, debated. Two decades later, she’s reframing it as a private choice she managed to hold onto in a very un-private world. The joke isn’t on her. If anything, the joke is on the culture that turned “Why?” into a reasonable response to “I have a boundary.”
And honestly, “Legs crossed, but open” might be the most grown-woman way of processing all of it. She can laugh at younger Jessica, honor her choices, and still admit how intense that purity messaging was. That’s what growth looks like in celebrity form: not pretending you were always chill and worldly, but saying, “Yep, that was me, and here’s why it made sense at the time.”
Receipts
Confirmed
- Jessica Simpson told Entertainment Tonight in an interview aired in November 2025 that Ashton Kutcher responded “Why?” when she revealed she was a virgin at 22 while filming That ’70s Show.
- She described herself as “very innocent” then and joked, “I’ve always been open. Legs crossed, but open,” according to that same interview and subsequent coverage.
- Simpson previously told People around 2000 that her virginity was something she “stand[s] strong in,” as she publicly committed to abstaining until marriage to Nick Lachey.
- On That ’70s Show, her character Annette reveals she is a virgin, and Kutcher’s character Kelso responds with “What? A coincidence. Me too,” in a scene fans can still watch in reruns and clips.
- Simpson married Nick Lachey in 2002; they separated in 2005 and later divorced. She later married former NFL player Eric Johnson, with whom she shares three children: Maxwell, Ace, and Birdie. Court records and recent reports confirm she and Johnson finalized their divorce in 2025 and now co-parent.
Unverified / Contextual
- How shocked or judgmental Kutcher personally felt in that moment beyond saying “Why?” is known only to him; he has not publicly commented.
- Any broader interpretation of his intent, or how that conversation may have affected their working relationship, is opinion and memory, not documented fact.
Sources (human-readable)
- Jessica Simpson interview with Entertainment Tonight, aired November 2025.
- Coverage of Simpson’s comments and divorce status in reporting published November 24, 2025.
- Jessica Simpson interview with People magazine discussing abstinence and her engagement period, circa 2000.
- That ’70s Show episodes featuring Jessica Simpson as Annette, originally aired 2002.
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
If you lost track of Jessica Simpson after the low-rise era, here’s the quick refresher. She broke out as a pop singer in the late 1990s, then became a household name in the early 2000s with her marriage to 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey and their reality show Newlyweds. (Yes, that’s where the infamous “Is this chicken or fish?” moment came from.) Around the same time, Ashton Kutcher was riding high on That ’70s Show and Punk’d, playing the goofy heartthrob of the moment.
Simpson’s image back then was a mix of sexy and “good girl”: Southern, Christian, and very vocal about waiting until marriage for sex. She and Lachey divorced in the mid-2000s, and she later married Eric Johnson, a former NFL tight end. Beyond singing and acting, Simpson quietly became a hugely successful fashion and lifestyle entrepreneur, building a brand that reached well beyond her early music career. In 2025, she and Johnson finalized their divorce but continue to co-parent their three kids.
Now, when she revisits moments like that day on That ’70s Show with Kutcher, it’s from the vantage point of a woman who has lived several lives since those “virginity as a headline” days.
What’s Next
So where does this little time capsule moment leave things? Practically speaking, Simpson is in a new chapter: post-divorce, still running her business, and clearly comfortable mining her past for stories that resonate with fans who grew up right alongside her.
It would not be shocking if these kinds of anecdotes end up in another book project, a deeper TV sit-down, or even a podcast-style series where she unpacks more of those early-2000s moments with the wisdom (and humor) of hindsight. She’s already shown, with her previous memoir work and interviews, that people are very interested when she pulls back the curtain.
On the other side, whether Ashton Kutcher ever responds is an open question. This isn’t an accusation; it’s more of a cultural snapshot. He could easily say nothing, or he could chime in with his own memory of the day. For now, the story belongs entirely to Simpson, and she seems to be using it less to call him out and more to underline how different the conversation around sex, consent, and boundaries is today.
If anything, I’d expect more of these “Wait, that was actually kind of wild, wasn’t it?” stories from celebrities who came up in the purity-ring era. Our understanding of agency and privacy has shifted, especially for women in the spotlight. Simpson revisiting her 22-year-old self might just be the start of a broader re-edit of the early-2000s script.
And maybe that’s the real plot twist: Once upon a time, the question was “Why are you still a virgin?” Now the more interesting question is, “Why did we ever think your sex life was public property in the first place?”
What do you think: when stars like Jessica revisit these old purity-culture moments, does it feel healing, annoying, or a bit of both?
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