Mila Kunis has recalled the horrific moment a homeless woman overdosed on drugs while sitting next to her two young children on the streets of Los Angeles.
The Ukrainian-born actress, who is married to Ashton Kutcher, described the ordeal her family faced a day out to an ice cream parlor during the coronavirus pandemic – at a time when homelessness was spiraling in the city.
She revealed how her kids, who were then aged four and six, watched a homeless woman having a drug-induced medical emergency – prompting Mila and Ashton to educate them about drug abuse from a young age.
Kunis, 39, said the woman was ‘clearly dealing with mental health issues’ – but she was nonetheless shocked that it was happening so close to her family.
Speaking to Conan O’Brien, she said: ‘We go to the ice cream shop, we go get ice cream. We sit down outside for like one of the first times. Okay.
‘We take our masks off, We’re like, “Wow,” we’re all eating our ice cream… My kids are six and four at the time,’ she added.
‘This woman experiencing homelessness who’s clearly dealing with mental health issues, walks down of Ventura, sits down next to us and decides to have an overdose next to my children and my husband and our friends,’ Kunis said.
Mila Kunis has recalled the horrific moment a homeless woman overdosed on drugs while sitting next to her two young children on the streets of Los Angeles
Mila is pictured with her two children and husband getting frozen yoghurt in LA. This image was taken in August 2022, and does not refer to the overdose incident
Mila and husband Ashton Kutcher were forced to educate their young children on drugs and what harm they can have because of the horrific experience
Her young children then started asking their parents a series of harrowing questions – as the ambulance rushed to help the homeless woman next to them.
Kunis candidly told viewers about the conversation she was forced to have with her children in the wake of the scary situation.
The actress continued: ‘None of us knew what to do. And my kids started asking questions, Right? I mean, forget like the ambulance coming. They were just like, “Is she ok? What is happening?”
‘And we ended up having to have a very logical conversation with them about what are drugs, what they do to you.’
Mila said that her husband Kutcher, 44, started telling the children details about how harmful drugs can be on people’s brains – which is a lesson that their kids still recite today.
It’s unclear when or where exactly the ordeal took place.
It comes as Los Angeles struggles with a homeless population which seemed to have spiraled during the pandemic.
A study in April showed that in the city, deaths for people living on the streets was mainly caused by drug overdoses, rather than coronavirus itself.
And in December, Los Angeles residents said the city’s homelessness crisis is the biggest problem it faced, with many saying they feel unsafe as a result – and that they’re considering moving.
A whopping 94 percent of people living in the City of Angels said homelessness is a serious or very serious problem.
Supporters of the blanket ban said homeless camps are a health and safety threat to schoolchildren, especially because of the disruptive presence of people with drug addictions or mental illness out in the open
Pictured: A homeless encampment lining up an entire street in Los Angeles
It was the biggest concern among residents polled, ahead of housing affordability, or traffic, air quality and climate change.
Four in 10 Los Angeles residents have cited the city’s homelessness problem as a main cause for feeling unsafe in their communities, with one in five people saying they would consider moving to escape the problem, a new poll revealed.
And in August this year, the LA City Council finally voted to crackdown on homelessness near schools – barring encampments from being set up within 500 feet of education buildings.
Martha Alvarez, of the LA Unified School District, told the city council that there have been 120 schools with homeless encampments identified near over the last year.
‘These conditions are a public health hazard,’ she said. ‘They are unsafe and traumatic for students, families and staff as they enter school campuses.’
Supporters of the blanket ban said homeless camps are a health and safety threat to schoolchildren, especially because of the disruptive presence of people with drug addictions or mental illness.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis attend the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27, 2022
The pair met while filming on That 70s Show – but their real relationship didn’t blossom until years later