It's so difficult to find a good helicopter in Des Moines at 2 am!!
God, I hate Ashton Kutcher!
- Celeb couple Kutcher, Moore crash bash at W.D.M. club
By ERIN CRAWFORD
Des Moines Register
May 30, 2006
Cameras flashing, text messages blazing and bathrooms cleared, Aura welcomed "Punk'D" creator Ashton Kutcher and his actress wife, Demi Moore, Sunday night around 11.
The bar didn't know it would be hosting the couple until 9 p.m., when word got out that the celebrities were driving to Des Moines from Homestead. Kutcher is an Iowa native.
The bar was already crowded for its swank annual "White Party," in which people dressed in white and danced to DJ AM, a Los Angeles-based club disc jockey.
"I didn't drink last night at all, so it was funny to watch people hang around," said 21-year-old Jamie Dorrell of Des Moines, who was at the packed bar with friends. "They didn't want to leave and were crowding around the booth that Demi and Ashton were sitting in."
According to those who spoke with the stars and their entourage, the couple had been visiting Kutcher's family when DJ AM text messaged them, asking for a Des Moines restaurant recommendation.
They suggested the Iowa Machine Shed, and then decided to come to the club for his set.
Meanwhile, bar manager Mike Caudle mobilized Aura's text messaging system to send out messages to hundreds of Aura customers. Caudle spent thousands of dollars to hire DJ AM, but having two A-list celebrities stop by was bonus publicity.
While at the bar, Moore and Kutcher split their time between a VIP, blocked-off booth and hanging out in the DJ booth, where Kutcher jumped around enthusiastically.
They drank Voss water, Red Bull, Heineken and Corona. And when Moore visited the restroom, the bar cleared it for her.
Dorrell danced with Scout, Moore's daughter, and described her as "really sweet and very polite. She went out of her way to talk to other people."
Scout will turn 15 in July, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Polk County Deputy Keith Onley said that according to state law it's legal for a minor to be in a bar late at night, as long as she isn't consuming alcohol.
At the end of the night, following DJ AM's set, which lasted until 2 a.m., Kutcher didn't want to drive home and requested a helicopter.
"So I contacted every pilot I know, and I couldn't get a hold of anyone with a helicopter," Caudle said.
Unable to find a limo, either, Caudle had security personnel drive the celebrities home in his own Cadillac Escalade.
Des Moines resident Armond Fiedler snapped some shots of Moore and Kutcher. Moore wasn't friendly with the cameras, he said.
"We got some photos on a camera phone and the rest on a disposable," he said. "Granted, when you're famous and rich, you probably get tired of people in your face. But when you're in a public establishment and people are looking at you, they want a picture. She was pointing at people and saying, 'Get away from us.' "
A few patrons who took photographs of the stars were asked to leave.
DJ AM never made it to the Machine Shed, according to Caudle.