The Hollywood star’s statement comes two months after rumours began circulating that her 33-year-old husband had cheated on her.
Moore, 49, and Kutcher wed in September 2005. This year, the former Punk’d host took over disgraced Charlie Sheen’s role in TV’s Two and a Half Men. It was shortly after his debut on the show that 22-year-old party girl Sara Leal told tabloids she had unprotected sex with Kutcher in a hotel hot tub.
In her statement, Moore said she was splitting from Kutcher with “great sadness and a heavy heart”.
She added: “As a woman, a mother and a wife there are certain values and vows I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit I have chosen to move forward with my life.
“This is a trying time for me and my family, and so I would ask for the same compassion and privacy that you would give to anyone going through a similar situation.”
Demi Moore attends premiere without Ashton Kutcher
Sara Leal is not the only twenty-something to have claimed she had sex with Kutcher while he was married. In September last year, 21-year-old Brittney Jones alleged they’d had sex in the Beverly Hills home he was once shared with his wife while she was away.
Speculation is also rife that Kutcher fathered his ex January Jones’ newborn baby after a one-night stand, after a blind gossip item posted on the internet seemed to implicate both stars.
Commenting on the end of his six-year marriage, Kutcher tweeted: “I will forever cherish the time I spent with Demi.”
He added: “Marriage is one of the most difficult things in the world and, unfortunately, sometimes they fail. Love and light, AK.”