TV | Pop Culture

The Cast of 'That 70s Show' Can't Hide These 7 Dark Behind-The-Scenes Secrets From Us Anymore

While the cast of That '70s Show were all smiles in their smoke circles, what was happening behind the scenes left a lingering haze of drama.

During the show's eight-year run, starting in 1998, we got to watch our favorite characters live out their teenage lives in the 70s and compare it to our lives 20 years into the future.

Decades later we are now learning about the dark secrets that the cast attempted to hide, but are slowly emerging. Brace yourself, because this is going to get heavy.

Danny Masterson was accused of rape

In the fall of 2017, Danny Masterson was accused of raping four women in the early 2000s, while he was starring in That '70s Show.

As the Los Angeles Police Department investigated, Netflix announced the release date of Season 4 of The Ranch, which stars Masterson and fellow That '70s Show co-star Ashton Kutcher.

After an uproar, the network decided to terminate Masterson's contract on the show. Reportedly "disappointed", the actor said:

"Law enforcement investigated these claims more than 15 years ago and determined them to be without merit. I have never been charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one. In this country, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, in the current climate, it seems as if you are presumed guilty the moment you are accused."

Mila Kunis lied about her age to get the job

Landing her first TV gig when she was just 13-years-old, she appeared in guest spots on Days of Our Lives and Baywatch before starting a small recurring role on 7th Heaven. While all these productions were okay with working with minors, producers of That '70s Show were not.

In order to score the role of Jackie Burkhart on the show when she was just 14-years-old, she pretended to be older than she really was.

"I told them I was going to be 18. But I didn't tell them when I was going to be 18!" she said.

As fate would have it, her "first real kiss" took place on camera as she, in character, planted one on her real-life future husband, Ashton Kutcher, who played her character's then-boyfriend, Michael Kelso.

If not for her little white lie, who knows if these two would have ended up together.

Kutcher and Kunis actually hated each other

Even though the couple is now living happily ever after in real life, Kunis and Kutcher were not fond of eachother as co-stars on the show.

"There's nothing we don't know about each other because we've known each other for so long: the ugly, the bad, the good. We went through a period where I thought he was crazy. At the height of his career, I was like, 'Ugh, I don't like you. I don't even know you anymore. You think you're such hot s**t.'"

Even though they went through "full friendship breakups" over the years, they always managed to reconcile in the end.

Topher Grace was a bad kisser

In one of the first gay kisses on North American prime time TV, it ended up giving Topher Grace a bad rap. Just before he got his breakout role in 10 Things I Hate About You, Joseph Gordon-Levitt appeared in season one as Eric's pal, Buddy Morgan. The character had a secret crush on his friend and they shared a kiss before Eric turned him down.

While the audience didn't love the plot twist, it didn't hurt Gordon-Levitt's career, but it did leave a bad taste in his mouth. He revealed that Grace was "probably one of the worst kissers [he's] ever kissed."

Actress Laura Prepon, who played Eric's long-time love interest on the show, also confirmed the kiss diss revealing that her Orange is the New Black co-star Taylor Schiling was a better kisser than Grace.

Leo left the show because Tommy Chong went to jail

Remember always getting a good laugh when the pothead, grown-up Leo came on screen? As one of the most memorable side characters, Tommy Chong was able to effortlessly float between his on-screen and off-screen personas.

If you remember this regular disappeared from the show's second, third and fourth seasons. His character came up again in season five with a manhunt that produced only a goodbye note.

Chong makes his final debut near the end of season seven, where he explains his absence as time spent "just wandering around, trying to find my place for a while."

In real life, Chong disappeared because he was actually service time. He was sentenced to nine months in jail for selling pot pipes. I guess the actor didn't fall too far from the character.

Laurie Foreman was recast because of devastating personal problems

Actress Lisa Robin Kelly played Eric Foreman's big sister, Laurie, for the first five seasons of the show. As you may remember, her role was significantly lessened after season three. The actress didn't appear at all during season four and only in a handful of episodes during season five. Struggles in her personal life caused her to eventually leave the show and be replaced by actress Christina Moore in season six.

She explains her departure and the struggles she was experiencing off screen.  "I had lost a baby. As a result of that I lost it. I lost everything and I was abusing alcohol," she said. "With That '70s Show I was guilty of a drinking problem, and I ran."

The actress then claimed to have recovered, but she made headlines again in 2010 with a DUI mugshot and again 2012 for allegations of domestic abuse.

Kelly died from a reported drug overdose in 2013 at the age of 43.

Tanya Roberts left because of her husband's terminal illness

Did you find it a little odd that out of nowhere Donna's parents, the Pinciottis, got a divorce and Brooke Shields came in to play her dad's new love interest in season six? That's because the depature of Donna's mom, Tanya Roberts, was sudden and unexpected.

This former "Bond girl" reportedly left the show in 2004, because her husband, screenwriter Barry Roberts, was terminally ill. Roberts did make a cameo appearance in a few episodes in the seventh season. Her husband ended up passing away in June 2006.

Nicki Swift

Some of those are crazy stories!

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