Ashton Kutcher Apologizes for Tweet Defending Paterno, Takes Break From Twitter
"Two and a Half Men" star Kutcher weighed in Wednesday night on the Penn State sex scandal on Twitter, creating quite the backlash.
Kutcher, who has more than 8 million Twitter followers, defended ostracized Penn State coach Joe Paterno: "How do you fire Jo Pa?" #insult #noclass as a hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste."
Penn State’s Board of Trustees recently fired Paterno because of his failure to take measures against disgraced former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, a legendary Penn State college football assistant coach. Sandusky is accused of 40 accounts of child rape and sexual abuse.
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“Wait, Ashton Kutcher @apulsk is standing up for #Paterno? Sickening,” tweeted @dusteallen. “You should be ashamed.”
“I always kind of assumed @aplusk was a moron,” tweeted @TCrabtree83. “Thanks for the confirmation!”
“We're being too hard on @aplusk tonight,” quipped @tylercoates. “Poor guy is so busy learning those brilliant lines on that smart and funny show to read the news!”
“Good luck fending off all the people you've upset with YOUR opinion, boss,” tweeted NFL star Chad Ochocinco.
Hours after the negative tweets flooded in, Kutcher did a one-eighty, apologized, and vowed to lay low on Twitter until the storm blew over.
"Heard Joe was fired, fully recant previous tweet! Didn't have full story. #admitwhenYoumakemistakes,” tweeted Kutcher.
“As of immediately I will stop tweeting until I find a way to properly manage this feed,” Kutcher later tweeted. “I feel awful about this error. Won’t happen again.” On Thursday, tweeters were more forgiving of the actor after his mia culpa and came to his support after the backlash.
“Just read that @aplusk recanted and apologized re: his initial support for Paterno. Glad to hear that,” tweeted @DawnPapandrea.
“Glad @aplusk apologized and admitted he didn't know the facts about paterno and penn state. Now time for people to lay off,” tweeted @positively4st.
“[He] mis-spoke and its ok. People need to get a life and instead of thriving on negativity, they need to get a life!” tweeted @nvrgvupga.
Kutcher later added: "As an advocate in the fight against child sexual exploitation, I could not be more remorseful for all involved in the Penn St. case."
