'Adulterer' Ashton Kutcher Reflects on Demi Moore Cheating Scandal in Emotional Speech (Video)

The actor reflected on the 2013 tabloid scandal while accepting the Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character Award over the weekend at Drake University's All-Star Evening, in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa.

"I'm also probably the first person to get this award for character who had, like, his name splashed across every gossip magazine as an adulterer like five years ago," he said. "Character comes when those magazines tear you apart for something you may or may not have done, and you gotta go out and perform tomorrow with everyone looking at you like you might be an adulterer."

In 2011 Moore announced that she was ending her marriage with "great sadness and a heavy heart" after allegations emerged that Kutcher was sexually involved with other women during their marriage.

Kutcher was reportedly involved with writer Sara Leal just months prior to the couple announcing their decision to split, though Leal insisted that Kutcher and Moore were separated at the time of their reported hookup.

The actor filed for divorce in 2012 and the split was finalized in 2013. The former couple were married for six years.

"I had the great fortune of getting a divorce because I felt the impact of it," he said. "And I felt how much loss is in there, and how much love is in there, and that it's not neat or clean or messy, and I understood finally my parents' divorce in a whole different way."

The actor also credited his wife Mila Kunis and their children for helping to shape his character, saying that Kunis "kicks my ass on character every day," and that his children are "the greatest, greatest lesson in character in my life."

Kutcher added that his family life even inspired him to go deeper with his own parents. "When my wife and I had these kids and we got to share that amazing, amazing, amazing honor, my first response was I wanted to call my parents and say, 'I'm sorry, because I never knew how much you loved me.'"

The actor choked up and paused several times throughout the 16-minute-long speech, which he ended by dedicating the award to those in attendance at the All-Star Evening. "As long as you have love and kindness and optimism and a pursuit of something greater in your heart, you're the lucky one. So this award is for you," he said.