Ashton Kutcher has been a prolific Twitter user over the past few weeks, but the actor temporarily left the micro-blogging Web site to take on “the spin factories” who have been following his every Twitter move.
“140 characters works for some things. Sometimes you need more space,” Ashton wrote on his MySpace blog, referring to Twitter’s character limit. “Over the last week my posts on Twitter have received a lot of attention. I have not begged or pulled or asked for any of it. Let me set a few facts straight.”
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The actor first addressed his very public spat with his noisy neighbor, which he video blogged and Twittered about multiple times.
“I do not think that going off on my neighbor was a horribly offensive thing to do. I have been woken up every morning for the last four months by hammering and construction on a structure that is very close to our property line after being told the land was being purchased to build a park,” Ashton wrote. “Yes, there may have been a more diplomatic way to do it and maybe broadcasting it for the net wasn’t the wisest choice.”
Ashton explained that he comes from a family of contractors and has the utmost respect for the profession.
“I do, however, have a job that sometimes forces me to work into the night (sometimes the movie business requires that) and occasionally I like to sleep past 7 AM,” he continued. “Yes, I live a very fortunate life and for that I am very greatful (sic), I do, however, work for a living. I have a family that I support and a company that I run daily. And I cherish the 4 to 6 hours that I sleep a day.”
Next up, Ashton addressed his defense of Michael Phelps, who faced a wave of media criticism after a photo surfaced of the Olympian smoking marijuana. Ashton reiterated that his defense of the athlete was not an acknowledgement of his own use of the drug.
“I don’t smoke marijuana and any statement to the contrary is a lie,” the actor wrote. “I simply feel that Michael Phelps is entitled to his privacy. The kid made a mistake (he is only human) and anyone who has been in the public eye knows the magnification of minor missteps can be blown way out of proportion.”
Ashton also took the opportunity to point out the media’s failure to acknowledge his “philanthropic pursuits” with wife Demi Moore, which he noted includes, “building a coalition to abolish 21st century slavery.”
“Our intention in becoming more active on the Web has been with the effort to connect to the community in an effort to create a greater bond with the amazing fans that we have adopted over several years,” he wrote. “But truth be told we are having fun connecting with people and if we are to be defamed for doing so, so be it. We aren’t publishing news. We are sharing with a community of people that are sharing back with us. So I only ask that you don’t take our conversation out of context and please stop printing half truths in the media so as to drive up your user consumption and sell more ads on the content that you claim to be news.”
The actor-turned-philanthropist ended his blog post with a glimpse of the possible future online activism to come from the Kutcher-Moore household.
“Twitter nation. you rock. ak,” he added.
