Ashton Kutcher says he didn't put arm around Reese Witherspoon at their premiere to avoid 'affair' rumors

Yes, Ashton Kutcher knows he went viral last week because of those awkward pictures with co-star, Reese Witherspoon. The internet had a field day over how they stood next to each other at the premiere for their new movie Your Place or Mine. On the red carpet, the two leads showed such a lack of chemistry that even Kutcher's wife, Mila Kunis, took notice.

"My wife called me. She texted me and Reese together and she's like, 'Guys, you gotta, like, act like you like each other.' And I'm like, 'What's going on?'" he explains in a preview for Wednesday's Chicks in the Office podcast.

"Here's the thing: If I put my arm around her and was, like, all friendly with her, I'd be having an affair with her — the rumor would be that I'm having an affair with her," Kutcher continued. "If I stand next to her, I put my hands in my pockets so there's no chance that, like, that could be the rumor."

Although the rumor mill churned the other way, that they "don't like each other," Kutcher said that's not the case.

"Reese and I are really good friends. We're really close. I don't have to defend that," he added. "I don't have to defend it."

Kutcher, who lost his vision and hearing in 2019 amid a life-threatening battle with the autoimmune disease vasculitis, said he still "can't hear very well."

"I'm hard of hearing in one ear and I can only hear in the other. I don't know who's yelling my name, but I know there’s a lot of people yelling, 'Reese! Ashton! Over here! Look at this one! Over here!' At a certain point you're looking you're like, 'God, this is really something. OK, which one? Look at the camera. Got it. OK, are we done? Awesome.' For, like, 20 minutes," he shared.

"If you're gonna tell me in that entire 20-minute period, at one point, you're not going to have an awkward face, then you're better than I am," he quipped. "And I'm cool with that."

Witherspoon was also asked about the awkward pictures during Monday's appearance on the Today show. The actress said Kunis reached out to her and Kutcher over the weekend.

"She goes, 'You guys look so awkward on the red carpet together,'" Witherspoon told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. "It’s just fun 'cause when you know a girlfriend so much, it was just fun to get to know her significant other 'cause I've loved her for so long."

Witherspoon said she's known Kunis for a while, but "had to learn to be friends" with Kutcher as the two "didn't really know each other." She said that before filming, the two started talking every day and sending each other videos.

"I was like, 'These are my dogs. These are my kids,'" Witherspoon recalled. "My kids would tease him about his football team."

Fans can judge Kutcher and Witherspoon's chemistry for themselves when Netflix's Your Place or Mine drops on Friday, Feb. 10.