Ashton Kutcher, Joe Paterno and a big Twitter mess
AP photo
Actor Ashton Kutcher was among the first celebrities who really mastered Twitter. He even challenged CNN to see who could hit 1 million followers first, way back in the dawn of the celeb-tweet era – two whole years ago.
But a quick message about now-ousted Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, dashed off before Kutcher knew the whole story, has him reconsidering things.
About 1 p.m. Thursday, Kutcher tweeted a link to a blog post detailing how he unwittingly created a maelstrom of controversy. He said he caught a quick TV headline about Paterno losing his job and “assumed that he had been fired due to poor performance as an aging coach. ” Without knowing the actual story, Kutcher said, ” I posted a tweet defending his career.”
To put it mildly, that did not go over well. Once Kutcher had learned of the entire situation at Penn State, he said he “quickly went back on my Twitter account and found a hailstorm of responses calling me an idiot’ and several other expletives.” He apologized, but the controversy has him considering professional management of his feed.
“I quickly retracted and deleted my previous post,” he wrote. “However that didn’t seem enough to satisfy people’s outrage at my misinformed post. I truly am sorry if I offended anyone and more over am going to take action to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
By handing over the tweet reins.
“While I will continue to express myself through @Aplusk I’m going to turn the management of the feed over to my team at Katalyst Media to ensure the quality of its content,” Kutcher wrote. “My sincere apologies to anyone who I have offended. It was a mistake that I don’t think will happen again.”
- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com
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91 comments Add your comment
AJC Negative Blogger
November 10th, 2011
2:34 pm
First!
Ron
November 10th, 2011
2:35 pm
What is a tweet?
Good Grief
November 10th, 2011
2:36 pm
What? Someone commented on something without having all the facts? The shame of it all?! Kutcher should retire immediately and withdraw from all human contact as penance for his sins. [/sarcasm]
Elvis Prez
November 10th, 2011
2:38 pm
I wish he would retire.
Jeffro Bodeen
November 10th, 2011
2:42 pm
Speaking without knowing all the facts????? Somebody wants to be a politician!!! Kutcher for president!!
KJ
November 10th, 2011
2:43 pm
Yes, Hollywood actors should definitely consider the feelings of idiots on twitter when posting stuff.
Next up, Youtube comments and their important role in society.
VoiceOfReason
November 10th, 2011
2:45 pm
Just shows how out of touch some of these celebs are with what is happening with the rest of the country. And this obviously out-of-touch person has how many followers again?
eastbeachssi
November 10th, 2011
2:45 pm
a tweet is something a twit says
Like OMG
November 10th, 2011
2:48 pm
I mean seriously people, Ashton is just trying to apologize for making a mistake. LIke, people as important in this world as Ashton Kutcher should like, just be allowed to make up for his mistaken tweets. His tweets have affected so many people in the world like on a positive note so why not allow him to like, you know, make up for this and apologize? Like Cmon people! I LOVE ASHTON
ProtectOURChildren
November 10th, 2011
2:48 pm
I think it’s almost worse for Kutcher to imply that he is so self-absorbed and out of touch with reality that he had no idea about the heinous acts of child sex abuse that went on at Penn State, when this topic has been reported on excessively for what seems like weeks. Please. He knew, and he just retracted his tweet after his millions of followers didn’t jump on his “poor JoePa” wagon.
jt
November 10th, 2011
2:49 pm
Who is actually offended by a tweet these days? Everything is taken so seriously. Give the dude a break
TheAntiMe
November 10th, 2011
2:50 pm
Kutcher seems more upset about Paterno being fired than he was when Demi fired him.
James Kirk
November 10th, 2011
2:51 pm
Gotta’ toe that party line; don’t dare wait for the courts to do their jobl Heck no. After all, we do operate under the presumpotion of guilt, right?
LawDawg
November 10th, 2011
2:52 pm
What a valuable story.
When the scandal first broke, my immediate reaction was “what does the guy who used to play Kelso and no makes sweet, sweet love to an elderly person think about this?”
LawDawg
November 10th, 2011
2:52 pm
*now
Sally
November 10th, 2011
2:53 pm
The man made a mistake and admitted it. Further more, he apologized. More than once apparently. Why is that not enough for some people?
Mark Richt
November 10th, 2011
2:54 pm
how bout them dawgs?
WplusM
November 10th, 2011
2:54 pm
This is really an AJC news article?
BobDog
November 10th, 2011
2:55 pm
@Ron
A tweet is something that a twit sometimes does
moderate
November 10th, 2011
2:55 pm
Most of us working folks don’t have time for Twitter, Facebook, etc. We really don’t have time to put every little thought up for consideration. Why would we be interested in AK’s opinion in any case.
I’m concerned about who other than college kids are spending time on these activities….maybe our school system employees? Bureaucrats?
tim
November 10th, 2011
2:56 pm
@timothygonzalez
kevin
November 10th, 2011
2:59 pm
a ‘hailstorm’?
ED
November 10th, 2011
2:59 pm
back in 1978 people did not have these problems
Red Neck
November 10th, 2011
3:01 pm
Tweet not what your country can do for you, tweet what you can do for your country.
Abraham Tweet
November 10th, 2011
3:05 pm
Four score and seven tweets ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all tweets are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great tweet war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so tweeted and so dedicated, can long tweet.
observor
November 10th, 2011
3:10 pm
Ashton once again is proving how astonishingly stupid he is. I’m really surprised he’s capable of dressing himself and walking around without running into walls as he’s basically a functional retard. Hopefully he has smart capable people managing his money because if it was up to him he’d probably invest in all in a Nigerian 419 investment opportunity.
oldfart
November 10th, 2011
3:11 pm
Paterno has not yet been charged with any crime to be found guilty of and therefore no court to wait upon. However being fired from a job does not require due process in a court of law.
Rodney Tweet
November 10th, 2011
3:12 pm
Can’t we all just tweet along?!
Tweetspeare
November 10th, 2011
3:13 pm
A tweet by any other name would smell as tweet.
Bradley AJC
November 10th, 2011
3:14 pm
Kutcher would make good as a newspaper sports writer. We do what he did every day.
baconbits
November 10th, 2011
3:14 pm
Bring Charlie Back!
TheAntiMe
November 10th, 2011
3:24 pm
I always thought that it was OK to be a dumb asp if you are a pretty boy?
Donna
November 10th, 2011
3:25 pm
Teachers are required by law to report all child abuse. Parterno was a million dollar a year teacher. An intern (that is a type of student) told him of a child being raped in the Penn State locker room and Parterno did not have the police investigate. Every thing he ever told you about duty honor Penn state pride or other man stuff is bunk because when it REALLY mattered he came up short. This is about the life of a child not a game.
H
November 10th, 2011
3:26 pm
How on earth could you not know what was going on if you read the web or watch any tv. Stupid typical hollywood jackass. You sure got a bright one Demi.
The Tweetles
November 10th, 2011
3:26 pm
“A Hard Day’s Tweet”
“Yestertweet”
“Back in The USSTweet”
“I Saw Her Tweeting There”
“Tweet & Shout”
BK
November 10th, 2011
3:26 pm
I guess he really was a real life kelso. What a twerp
Spanky
November 10th, 2011
3:28 pm
Observor- Well, thank God he’s got you here to point that out for him!! Some of you need to get a grip!! This is the main reason that I PROUDLY do not own a Twitter account! All the people who know everything about everything always has something to say, like the brainiac afore-mentioned!
Good Grief
November 10th, 2011
3:29 pm
BK – Could you say that “This twit’s a tweetin’ twerp?”
The Truth be Told
November 10th, 2011
3:29 pm
The Truth is it is abosultely insane that the Penn State Board has been judge and jury to a legend like Joe Paterno. Kuther was right and many many Americans and the students need to put these politically correct bozos in there place. This whole incident reminds me of the Nazis in Europe. Everything is done in secret and they decide a mans fate without any evidence on their opinions which are obviously wrong.
coachx
November 10th, 2011
3:30 pm
Ashton, your just a big dummy who will alwayse be remembered as the big dummy on “That 70’s Show” who married a lady older then his own mother.
Aaron
November 10th, 2011
3:31 pm
Good to know that theres a point at being rich and famous where you don’t even have to read. Or you get so damn lazy you need someone to professionally manage the lame “status updates” you post constantly.
Teresa
November 10th, 2011
3:31 pm
IMO people that follow celebs on twitter need to get a life, this situation goes to show how out of touch they are with this countries ills.
The Truth be Told
November 10th, 2011
3:37 pm
Donna,
Paterno did report the incident. You and your politically incorrect teachers need to remember our constitution and our law that says you are inocent until proven guility and our Chistian teaching from Jesus that says Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. Are we teaching are children to lie and use allegations that are false to ruin peoples lives. That is the real sin here.
ryan
November 10th, 2011
3:39 pm
Kutcher got PUNKED !
Bill Clinton
November 10th, 2011
3:44 pm
I did not tweet with that woman.
markie mark
November 10th, 2011
3:47 pm
@eastbeachssi…..as a former resident of 8th st, say hello to Goulds Inlet for me….and murphys, the crab trap, etc.
aon
November 10th, 2011
3:50 pm
I agree with you Elvis. Ashton’s arrogance just makes him seem that much more childlike. He is becoming quite the bore! I also agree about twitter. Who the heck has time to tweet everything they do? I spend a little time on Facebook – mostly to keep up with my children – but after awhile I even have to walk away from Facebook because it can suck you in so quickly and is such a time waster.
Jarhead
November 10th, 2011
3:53 pm
Ass ton Kutcher is a damn idiot even before this, I mean who in their right mind would cheat on Demi Moore…! And by the way Ass ton, you really suck on two and half men…!
Haterade
November 10th, 2011
3:55 pm
I kind of wish he’d fall down the stairs. Like a really big flight of stairs. I’m thinking all the way to the bottom at Peachtree Center.
guest
November 10th, 2011
3:56 pm
OMG, The Truth be Told. Have you even been following the Penn State story? Have you read the grand jury report? Are you AWARE that Joe Paterno got his information from a “visibly distraught” EYEWITNESS to the rape of a 10 YEAR OLD BOY (who in my opinion should also be fired). If you have you would know how stupid you sound.
Reality
November 10th, 2011
3:58 pm
@The Truth be Told
Of course, if your kid got touched and his boss simply told his boss and said no more, you’d scream bloody murder. Joe Pa who cared for nothing more than his legacy has been defeated by his own ego. It’s a fitting end and a very good lesson to take from this incident. The second would be that adults shouldn’t have heroes.
Are You Serious?
November 10th, 2011
4:05 pm
Thank you, Donna!!! For all of you Joe Paterno fans…read the Sandusky Indictment..then tell us if you think Joe did enough. Seriously, he only reported a child being raped to the Univ…he never called the POLICE. A CRIME was being committed and this man basically did nothing. And worse of all…thought him reporting it to the Univ was enough. If it was one of his grandchildren, I’m sure he would have wanted someone to report it to the POLICE…not School Officials. Just shows how warped and desensitized our society has become. People are enraged and rioting because a COACH was fired, when children were raped on his watch….are “you” serious?
@ The Truth be Told….read the Sandusky Indictment…then tell us how 20 children and eyewitnesses are just making up these heinous stories.
dre
November 10th, 2011
4:05 pm
Just another effeminate 20-something who wears a knit dou_che hat and colorful sneakershoes
Tan Yank with Tude
November 10th, 2011
4:20 pm
Oh well…& Jesse Jackson tweeted that Ruby Dee had died…when in fact it was Heavy Dee…
age
November 10th, 2011
4:24 pm
Is he trying to do the CROSS-OVER THING???
Come on Man
November 10th, 2011
4:25 pm
It’s not like he committed a crime or anything.
age
November 10th, 2011
4:26 pm
OOPS! disregard entry!!
Billy
November 10th, 2011
4:26 pm
he is an idiot. How did he not know about the scandle? It was all over the news two days before Paterno was fired.
HootyGoot
November 10th, 2011
4:28 pm
Kutcher made an honest mistake, Don’t be an obnoxious troll. Forgive and forget.
TomG
November 10th, 2011
4:41 pm
Not excusing Coach Paterno from anything but I find it hard to believe the grad asst told him a child and the asst coach in the shower naked were having sex. Perhaps he said something inappropriate was going on and the coach wanted the AD to handle it internally. Just a guess here. Maybe the grad asst(now 10 yrs later) is trying to cover his own behind because he took no immediate action. A second thought – Ok, not everyone will do things heroically but what I want to know is why the grad asst(28 yr old coach) did not to anything at that second he saw the naked coach and boy in shower having sex? Was he too scared to do anything or did it really happen, I don’t understand a man not attempting to stop it when a child is involved?
Spanky
November 10th, 2011
4:41 pm
Billy, he was too busy taking pictures with his one-touch camera….
RGB
November 10th, 2011
4:49 pm
You people should read the grand jury testimony before making foolish comments.
TomG: Sandusky and the child were not having sex. The boy was being raped. According to the grand jury testimony Sandusky even took one of the boys to church.
If your wife were raped and someone said the two “were having sex”, what would be your reaction?
woodrow
November 10th, 2011
4:53 pm
Twee-poo-tweet. Why is this so damn funny to me? And people get so serious. Twee-poo-tweet Mr. Kutcher. Say hi to Demi for me. Oops. It’s a bad week for Mr. Kutcher. And Paterno too.
clyde crommett
November 10th, 2011
4:57 pm
Get over it Who cares? U must be as bored as I
HootyGoot
November 10th, 2011
4:58 pm
It doesn’t matter if it was consentual sex or not. Pre teen children aren’t supposed to be making any decisions about their sexuality. They are supposed to be protected by the adults around them not exploited.
TomG
November 10th, 2011
5:03 pm
RGB – If the grad asst told Paterno the boy was being raped why did the grad asst(28 yr man) not do anything to stop it? I do not think he told Paterno what you are telling me. If that is true, all should hang.There is more to this story than we know about at this time? I hope RGB is not correct but do not know?
pebblebeach
November 10th, 2011
5:05 pm
it was enough information and news about the entire matter long before Joe wos fired….where does Kutcher live, under a darn rock or in the the trunk of his girlfriend’s car trunk…
Penn State Alum.
November 10th, 2011
5:24 pm
Please stop having such strong opinions about subjects you have no clue about. Good advice for Kutcher, good advice for the posters here who don’t know a thing about PSU or Paterno other than what they’ve been spoon-fed by the media for the past few days.
Did JoePa make a mistake? Sure sounds that way. Is he a deplorable human being? It would be nice if people actually had all the facts before making such a judgment, but we deserve a whole lot more than than Court of Public Opinion.
guest
November 10th, 2011
5:31 pm
TomG, I think the answer to your question is the real crux of the problem. Not one adult (and that includes the grad assistant) did what they should have done in this horrendous situation, why? We can only assume that it was for the sake of the football program. Penn State football has such a stranglehold on everyone associated with it that their first reaction was to protect the program and not protect a vulnerable 10 year old. That is the only way that you can fathom how McQueary could have walked away from what he saw with his own two eyes vs. pulling Sandusky off of the boy and beating the daylights out of him. It is disgusting that every adult involved in this scandal is (was) employed by Penn State or somehow connected to the school (Sandusky still being allowed to use the campus facilities for his “charity” program despite multiple incidences involving him “horsing around” in the shower with young boys). I guess it was the ol’ boys’ network protecting each other. I for one don’t believe that Mike McQueary will make it onto the football field for Saturday’s game. I believe between now and then he will be the next one to fall, and he should. The school needs to remove all of the adults who had any information related to this scandal and chose to only do what they were minimally required to do. All that being said, I really feel for the football players (players – not the program as I feel the program is the root of this evil). They are also innocent victims in this and my heart is sad for the seniors who will go out with this awful legacy.
Dirty Joe
November 10th, 2011
5:49 pm
Just another uninformed idiot making comments. It happens everyday on “social media.”
This is the type of crap Twitter has unleased on humanity. Sometimes technology isn’t good.
Daimler Benz
November 10th, 2011
5:54 pm
Kelso is a celebutard. Paterno needed to be fired. He reported the incident to his superior — but not to the police. IOW, protect the good name of PSU instead of helping a kid who is being sodomized by a football coach.
Sue
November 10th, 2011
5:56 pm
He reported it to the College. Why didn’t they report it? Shouldn’t they share some blame in this, too? I imagine when he reported it, he thought they would handle it.
concerned
November 10th, 2011
6:10 pm
Ashton started a charity against Child Sex Slavery and yet the hypocrite takes a stand for a person complicit in rape. And let’s not forget the def. coach involved in rape also started a boys club. Those who have held professional jobs know the dirt and corruption that goes on behind closed doors. The university tried to protect its source of income over rape of kids.
Jack
November 10th, 2011
6:36 pm
Typical tweeter; say something then find out what the facts are. Got to be first with the comments (for some odd ass reason).
TomG
November 10th, 2011
7:07 pm
guest@5:21 – Good post!!!! Think I may understand it better now? Was grad asst afraid of Sandusky, just too scared to get physically involved?
JESSUP
November 10th, 2011
7:09 pm
No one is exempt from ‘opening mouth and inserting foot’. It takes CLASS
JESSUP
November 10th, 2011
7:10 pm
No one is exempt from ‘opening mouth and inserting foot’. It takes CLASS to openly admit you erred and to offer sincere apology. Good move, Aston.
name change
November 10th, 2011
7:12 pm
No one is exempt from ‘opening mouth and inserting foot’. It takes CLASS to openly admit you erred and to offer sincere apology. Good move, Aston.
GA Pralines
November 10th, 2011
7:18 pm
Value of a Pedo State degree, not what it use to be.
Go DAWGS!!
DLink
November 10th, 2011
7:35 pm
Joe Paterno, hmmm. Like a Seargant in the field, he was given intel, he gave it to his lieutenant, who gave it to the Commander. Quit beating up the soldiers in the field people. By not acting, the Commander acts. Paterno was ordered to shut up and it would be dealt with at a higher level than he had access to, or needed to know. Whole need to know basis, is a reality in the corporate world as well as in any other field of battle. Everybody blames the worker when the CEOs are (Edit) people. Paterno did his job.
Google Valerie Plame and learn the game before you play. People forget Abu Ghraib all too soon and don’t really learn from it. This is the lesson.
Turd Ferguson
November 10th, 2011
7:51 pm
ESPN ALERT, CMR to step down at end of year. JOE PA to be new UGA coach.
DLink
November 10th, 2011
8:00 pm
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED253903&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED253903
Relevance value = 10. This guy did his job. 3 mile island still happened. Obama is one of the few I’ve seen who doesn’t appear to be asleep at the wheel when reports of imminent anything comes in. This isn’t politics, of course. Merely educational, in which I have an interest.
Jeanine
November 10th, 2011
8:07 pm
No need to apologize for tweet. Joe didn’t commit the sex act. That’s who they need to be talking about, not Joe. There are Catholic priests who had sex with boys who haven’t been as vilified as Joe Paterno, and Joe’s not the one who did something wrong.
GA on my mind
November 10th, 2011
8:50 pm
Jeanine
JoPA just like to watch.
Ron Burgundy
November 10th, 2011
9:08 pm
What a douche canoe!
SB
November 10th, 2011
9:22 pm
Just goes to show you that most celebs are in the know about nuttin’ . They should stick to acting. that’s all they know. sheesh
SB
November 10th, 2011
9:24 pm
knowing about a wrong and doing nothing is as bad as committing the crime. Paterno had to go. adios
journeylandjudy
November 10th, 2011
9:28 pm
Bogus!!! He thought he was fired because of poor performance? The team is 8-1 going into Saturday’s game against Nebraska. Where in the heck has he been this college football season? I don’t believe him and I think he only retracted his tweet because of the backlash he was receiving. Is he THAT out of touch with current events?
Chris
November 11th, 2011
7:45 am
Like most people, he made a poor decisions based on limited information and perspective.
Stop Judging
November 12th, 2011
11:04 pm
People…..Ashton made a mistake and sought steps to correct it. We all know that he would not knowingly support any abuse against a child. Sometimes I think all of you are just stupid people who have nothing better to do than post idiot statements. Ashton is not the first person to say something without all the facts. AT LEAST he learned something from his mistakes.
carla roqs
November 14th, 2011
5:55 pm
careful, careful