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Ashton Kutcher Shamed By Internet After Pro-Joe Paterno Tweet

» 60 comments

It must be difficult, being famous, particularly if it’s for consistently playing people who are beautiful and sexy, but about as intelligent as a hemorrhoid. It’s understandable that a person in such a position would want to make sure people knew he was about more than simply losing cars with dudes or looking ruggedly disheveled while wearing a beanie. Becoming involved in charity is a good place to start! Take, oh…. Ashton Kutcher for instance. The star of Two and a Half Men and various creepy camera commercials is involved in spreading awareness about human sex trafficking. Noble! Commendable! Hip! However, one must always be careful not to negate one’s charitable work by, say, undermining the trauma experienced by victims of rape and sexual abuse. We realize that’s a difficult thing to remember, so let’s give you an example.

Last night, amid media coverage of coach Joe Paterno‘s forced departure from Penn State, Kutcher Tweeted the following:

Had Kutcher taken a moment to discover exactly why it was that Mr. “Pa” was being fired, he would have known that it was Paterno’s handling (or mishandling, really) of rape allegations against his former Penn State football assistant, Jerry Sandusky, that eventually resulted in his dismissal. In brief: After Paterno was made aware that Sandusky had been literally caught in the act of raping a boy of about ten, he… did nothing. Sandusky was punished in such a way that would make a slap on the wrist seem like waterboarding: His locker room keys were taken away.

RELATED: Dear Media, Penn State Is Not A ‘Sex Scandal,’ It’s A Rape Scandal

Twitter reacted swiftly to Kutcher’s gaffe, mostly with a well-placed dose of humor and derision. Some came to the actor’s defense, others put the gaffe into perspective.

Ashton since retracted that Tweet (by deleting it), and offered an apology. He also announced that he’d stop Tweeting until he finds a way to “manage” his feed:

For what it’s worth, many on Twitter this morning are commending the actor for admitting to his mistake.

At any rate, his snafu serves as a lesson for people — famous and otherwise — to “think before you type,” particularly when weighing in on issues that may be complicated or multi-layered, JENNY MCCARTHY. Plus, these days, admitting to a mistake quickly and with some semblance of sincerity is a good way of pleasantly shocking the general public. And, if this response on Kutcher’s Facebook page is any indication, people will always be willing to forgive you as long as you sexy:

RELATED: NY Times Buries The Lede: Anderson Cooper’s Ratings Surge At 8PM

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  • Anonymous

    He didn’t know.
    He apologized.
    Pffft.

  • Anonymous

    Can I humbly direct everyone to the last picture on this article……….what do you think about Christophel?

  • joe

    it is always the ‘good’ neighbor with body’s burried in the back yard…
    that is why they are called sociopaths..

    there is no excuse for child abuse–

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KGGGLFKKV6WAM67WBJFCMFH6PU N O

    When, o when, will everyone realize what a dipsh$t Kutcher is (and always has been)?

  • Kid Dynamite

    Sandusky was once a big Two and a Half Men fan, but his interest has waned in recent years.

  • Anonymous

    This cuts right to the heart of so many celebrity pronouncements. While yes, it is admirable that Kutcher fessed up, why in the first place would he make such a stern statement without exploring details? Clearly he just saw a headline and reacted, taking to his account to spout off. Why wouldn’t he first have looked into details over the firing? 

     Considering Paterno is such an icon his firing should have sparked some curiosity.  Instead Ashton felt the need to lip-off with his “expert” opinion. He should have to bear his share of scorn for the impetuous reaction.

  • Chris

    You’re being overly kind and assuming he didn’t know why Paterno was fired… 

    And AK has to learn to “manage his feed?”  What does that mean coming from Mr Technology?  Was this only supposed to go to “friends”?  No matter how/why it happened, he looks plain dumb….

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PKEQSTA4WOBYU5Z7QNSBUR2LXI MASSMURDERMEDIA

    hello?…  is this on?…  try jiggling it…  no?…  come in, mediaite, over…  mediaite, do you read me?…  testing, check, check…

    i can’t figure out how to properly manage this feed…

  • Anonymous

    Three words for Ashton Kutcher.  “Read a book.”  No reason for anyone alive in America not to know about this crap going on at Penn State except for a big, dumb cluck like him.  Once again “read a book.”

  • Darr247

    Paterno followed school policy. An allegation was reported to him, and he reported it to his supervisor. The janitor or intern or whoever that alledged to Paterno that he saw sandusky blowing the kid in the shower is the one that should have called the cops, since he had direct knowledge of the situation. Paterno couldn’t testify in court about anything but hearsay.

  • Darr247

    JoPa loves PSU too much to do so, but he should probably sue for improper termination since he DID follow school policy by reporting it to the next person up in the chain of command.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FSPIVAFYI672OH5NOKVRTEZA4U MadCharles

    Soooo,  why didn’t the sports media/msm bring this to light years ago ? Do you think they didn’t know all this time ? Many kids could have been saved had the “leaders” in sports media/msm do their job.

  • Lulu

    Ashton Kutchner, you are no Bruce Willis…bend over.

  • Lulu

    The new coach replacing Paterno,is the witness who saw Sadistnky sodomozing a 10yr old? He walked away, the identity of the child was never known. The DA who should have prosecuted him disappeared!!!! DO YOU GET THAT!!!!!!

  • http://twitter.com/MerryMarjie MerryMarjie

    My impression of Kutcher, in error though it may be, is that he is an idiot who fell into an “acting” job where he portrayed himself, gained national attention, became a boy-toy for a fading/aging actress, and somehow came to mind when producers of a decent comedy show had to replace an actor quickly.  I still wonder how he managed to convince them that he could act because it’s painfully obvious that he cannot.  The fact that he “tweets” inane and stupid comments is a testimony to his level of intelligence and maturity, numbers which hover in the single digits.

  • Anonymous

    Sandusky was one of Paterno’s coaches. All he had to do was confront the guy and bring an end to the brutality. Instead he channeled it into the school system to obfuscate the issue and tamp down the scandal.  All of Paterno’s maneuvers are legally excusable, but morally it was reprehensible. He tried keeping his hands clean while kids continued to be preyed upon.

  • Darr247

    Sandusky retired 3 years before the allegation was made to JoPa by the graduate assistant that he saw sandusky blowing a kid in the shower. So he was NOT one of Paterno’s coaches when the allegation was reported to him (if he had been, certainly JoPa would have investigated and fired him).

  • Darr247

    No, I don’t GET any of THAT, since it’s all bullshit you made up.

  • Anonymous

    That’s the kind of half-assed legal wrangling and excuse-making that has corrupted this whole affair. Try reading the Grand jury report.  Sandusky was not a coach at the time, but he was deeply involved with the Penn St. program for years after, and was there during all this criminal behavior. He was operating an outreach program for young boys through the school. When this initial report was made he was reprimanded by the University and told only to stop bringing young boys on campus.

    Sandusky was caught sodomizing a 10 year old in the showers, and there are 8 boys so far who have testified Sadusky assaulted them. Paterno testified under oath he was aware of Sandusky fondling or “doing something of a sexual nature with a boy”, so he was aware of what was happening, yet he took no direct action to stop things. He had worked with Sandusky for decades at that time, but obviously he worked harder to clear his program than to held kids preyed on by an official.

  • Web design London

    This cuts right to the heart of so many celebrity pronouncements. 

  • Anonymous

    Once again another resident of Hollywood proves that being rich and famous does not make you smart! 

    His PR firm should approve all his tweets prior to posting….

    Many who tweet are twits!

  • Anonymous

    Did you see that picture of him? Is he a “fairy?” sure looks like one.

    I’m just say’n.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SIYF5565LXG7BBKTKGSSFWU7TA The Rock

    All claims are wrong and baseless many who tweet aren’t twit but your idiot & moron and twit as well.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SIYF5565LXG7BBKTKGSSFWU7TA The Rock

    Think before you tweet at least Ashton fess up to it. Ashton is part of media so it will be picked up if I said not so much but I wouldn’t say it.

  • Anonymous

    Question, is English your first language?  You have a run-on sentence; you lack proper punctuation, and your syntax is lacking. 

    Try:  All claims are wrong and baseless.  Many who tweet aren’t [a] twit, but [you're an] idiot [and a] moron and [a] twit as well.

    Another question, are you from Hollywood?

  • Agfa_10

    Amazing, when one realizes that those Hollywood “stars?????” state
    opinions on matters that effect the lives of Millions of Americans, what
    is troubling is that many people actually pay attention or even follow
    them BLINDLY

  • Darr247

    I *have* read it – you can download the PDF from http://www.scribd.com/doc/72061109/Grand-Jury-Report-on-Penn-State-Sex-Abuse-Scandal - nowhere does it say JoPa witnessed any sexual activity, but when the graduate assistant told him about the 2002 incident (the day after he saw it), Paterno reported it to his boss, who reported it to the head of the school (the person responsible for reporting it to the police, under the law).

    Why didn’t the grand jury go after the “school counselor” that was recruiting kids (“victim 6″ and “victim 7″)  and sending them to sandusky. Sounds like a pimp, to me.

  • Anonymous

    They should ALL be removed. You understand that you have cast blame on the people beneath Paterno, and the people above Paterno? How exactly is he perfectly insulated like that? Paterno is in a position of leadership and should have contacted authorities. Passing the buck upward is avoidance on his part.  Sandusky was a confidant of Paterno, he was an assistant coach for decades, and was an active participant in the program as these crimes were executed. Saying JoPa went through proper channels is nothing more than plausible deniability, plain and simple.
     
    Paterno testified to authorities that he heard Sandusky was seen fondling or sexually abusing a youth. How do you excuse away the fact that this was allowed to transpire for over a decade on campus? I don’t care if Paterno did enough to be legally excused, if he did not help prevent children from being terrorized he is culpable. He knew Sandusky intimately, and if he did not move to prevent further attacks that is clear evidence he facilitated in allowing further incidents. School officials slapped Sandusky on the wrist and said take your problem elsewhere; meanwhile years of further abuse on children was permitted. If you want to excuse Paterno you are putting fandom and football above human decency.

  • Anonymous

    F**k school policy he should have reported it to the police.  If it was one of his 16 grandchildren do you think he would have just reported it to his boss?  You sound like an ass trying to defend Paterno.

  • Mia

    Sorry but in the instance of seeing and/or hearing about a 10 year old being raped by a 60 something year old man – they can shove school policy should have been shoved up the chain of command’s @$$ – YOU CALL THE POLICE. Failure to report a crime – is also a crime. Furthermore, JoePa heard of this instance and yet allowed this thing Sandusky to continue to bring children on to the campus. If he LOVED  Pennetration State soooo much – he would have STOPPED IT!. Joe’s in way over his head… the only thing on his side right now is his age – he probably won’t be on this earth by the time his trial rolls around.

  • http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

    I hear what you’re saying but nothing was stopping Joe from taking the matter in his own hands and going to the authorities himself!! He would have been a hero for stopping more abuses from occurring!!

  • http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

    Kutcher should just stay focused on his television career and keep his opinions out of rape scandals!!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VFQSLJBGIKXCO4IDL4URXW2AQA Wilkby

    Did you read that comment Xpat48 made? Is he an “idiot?” Sure sounds like one.

    I’m just say’n.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SIYF5565LXG7BBKTKGSSFWU7TA The Rock

    Nope I don’t have run on sentence that is a lie. I don’t lack proper punctuation and syntax isn’t lacking either another lie. Spelling & Grammer are overrated online can’t stand speilling and grammer police and I write spell pretty good. Your wrong and I’m right.

  • Anonymous

    LOL!You’re a funny person!

    Your latest post should read something to the effect:

    “Nope, I don’t have a run on sentence.  That is a lie!  I don’t lack proper punctuation, and my syntax isn’t lacking either.  That’s another lie.  Online, spelling and grammar are overrated.  I can’t stand the spelling and grammar police, and I write and spell pretty well.  You’re wrong, and I’m right.”

    Again, you lack proper puncuation in several places.  “Grammer,” is the wrong spelling; it’s “grammar” with an “a” at the end before the ending “r.”  You have it spelled wrong twice.  A common mistake is the use of the word “good.”  “I write and spell pretty well.”  Good is an adjective.  You should use the word “well” in place of “good” in your post.  You can do a “good job at spelling and writing.”  In this case, good is being used as an adjective to modify the noun “job.”  Also, there are two forms of the “almost” homonym ”your”.  (They’re almost homonyms, but they are spelled a little differenly.)  “Your” is possessive, i.e., your spelling is poor; the other is “you’re,” which means “you are.”  It’s what you are trying to say in your last sentence: “[y]our should read “you’re” to mean you are.

    Have a good day!  I’ll talk with you later!

  • Sprngfleur

    THANK YOU!!! 

  • Sprngfleur

    Ha ha!  I’m going to give Rock the benefit of the doubt and assume that English is his second language.  I hope so, anyway.

  • Sprngfleur

    All these actors need to just shut up and look pretty.  That’s all they’re good for.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SIYF5565LXG7BBKTKGSSFWU7TA The Rock

    Everything you just said is wrong as always.

  • Anonymous

    Hey Rock, make the end of your sentence the intro, and you’ll have a much better sentence.

    As always, everything you just said is wrong!

  • Anonymous

    When I want your cunt-ass opinions on Ashton Kutcher’s tweets, I’ll let you know, you pantywaist punk moron.

  • Anonymous

    Sandusky was just having fun with some kids. He meant no harm.

  • Anonymous

    When I want your opinion of Ashton Kutcher, I’ll bitch slap it out of you!

  • Anonymous

    Who appointed you to the Thought Patrol? Shutup and go molest some kid in the shower.

  • Anonymous

    Everybody’s a victim in this society. Now we’re supposed to feel victimized by an Ashton Kutcher tweet. Quit whining and get yourself an enema, or go molest some kid in the shower.

  • Anonymous

    You’re a holier than thou cock-a-moron

  • Anonymous

    That’s right, let’s blame everybody except Sandusky.

  • Anonymous

    When the janitor saw the blow job, he shouldn’t have just blown it off!

  • Anonymous

    Right, let’s blame everybody except Sandusky, you cornhole-lovin’ pantywaist.

  • Anonymous

    You need to be tried for aggravated stupidity. You would have done the exact same thing Paterno did, you pisswad pantywaist.

  • Anonymous

    You’re an idiot who gained access to a computer to spout forth your mindless drivel.

  • Martini Shark

    You know Ashton, most people would have contributed to the discussion by bringing in unrealized facts, or by providing a nuanced perspective that others possibly had not considered, and then augmented the discourse with a narrative that invited continued dialogue.

    You made the bold choice of going 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Good luck with your brain cloud, you tool.

  • Bob

    He was right…..Paterno shouldn’t have been fired but the public demanded a sacrificial lamb and the board of trustees caved under the pressure…..Paterno did his job, he reported it to his superiors the day after an eyewitness reported it to him…..they should have handled it from there…..maybe he could have done more, but he did his job….and or all of those that say what if it was his grandson?…..It wasn’t…..I watched a video of a man in NY get hit by a (hit and run) car and lay in the street paralyzed  and by passers never helped him….my neighbor was just also paralyzed by a woman texting and driving and he has never heard from her even once after the accident….anymore I think thats the norm…..thats how I see most people….but now you demand his job because he did his job but should have done more????

    Hypocrites!

  • Anonymous

    It’s bad enough that Paterno and others are takin’ the rap for what Sandusky did, but now we have to reach out to Ashton Kutcher and give him a rap on the knuckles! But I must admit, the hysteria is amusing.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SIYF5565LXG7BBKTKGSSFWU7TA The Rock

    Nope your wrong I’m always right stop being grammar & spelling police my sentense start great and end great as well. your idiot & moron that needs to get a life.

  • Martini Shark

    The reason Paterno, the President, The AD, and others were fired is because they knew what Sandusky was up to for over 10 years. Their inaction led to an untold amount of children to have their lives ruined. These are school administrators, people in authority; I don’t care if Paterno did the bare “legal” minimum, Sandusky was a longtime coworker and Paterno’s actions and the others was of a cover-up to protect the football program. They thought of the school first, not the lives of the kids this beast was preying upon.

  • Anonymous

    The world needs to know what Ashton is thinking 24/7. Keep it up Ashton you’re really not stupid. We know. You’re the best cornholing spokesperson ever.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KGGGLFKKV6WAM67WBJFCMFH6PU N O

    You and which real man?

  • Anonymous

    It’s easy to say we would have run to the police, but you don’t really know. Would you turn in a family member or long-time friend or try to do something short of that? I doubt most people would go right to the cops.

  • Martini Shark

    I do know. I think anybody who has a child would find that a required reaction. Even if you don’t go straight to the cops you’d get that person to first stop, and second get treatment. The fact this was allowed to go on for so long is why this is such a big problem. How many lives would have been spared the horror?

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