For some reason, we’ve been told to believe that Ashton Kutcher is some kind of tech expert. They send him new phones and he tests out apps and he played Steve Jobs and accumulated a lot of followers on Twitter and this is supposed to mean that he’s digital and original and smart, smart enough to sniff out the next, smart enough to be able to see a trend before it becomes one, smart enough to be more than just some douchebag who throws money at sh-t. Sure.
A couple of years ago, the NYT and Gawker pointed out some inconsistencies in how Kutcher purportedly handles his business. Click here for a refresher. There was also the time when he f-cked up on Twitter in blind defence of Joe Paterno, remember that?
So, yeah, we’re dealing with a business genius here, for sure.
Now it’s been reported that his website A+ has been plagiarising content from other outlets.
“The Daily Dot — which documented its findings with screen shot comparisons — reports that Kutcher’s site has lifted entire articles with little to no changes or attribution. Sometimes the changes are as minimal as a new headline and a line asking readers to share the story.
The site claims to draw 30 million unique visitors a months, a number that is attributed to Kutcher’s heavy promotion of its content on social media.
After the Daily Dot inquired about the allegations last week, the articles in question, along with all content pre-dating July, were deleted. All posts from Twitter prior to Aug. 6, and Facebook before Aug. 4, were scrubbed as well. A+’s Evan Beard responded by saying that the website was looking into the accusations.
“We take these allegations seriously and are looking into them,” he said in a statement. “The content that was removed was taken down as a precautionary measure. Respecting the intellectual property of others is extremely important to us.”
The Guardian pointed out that this isn’t the first time the actor has been accused of plagiarism this year.
Last month, photographer Marsel van Oosten called out the “Jobs” star for stripping one of his photos of its watermark, and posting it as if it were his own.”
I know. You’re surprised, aren’t you? You can’t f-cking believe it.
Attached – Ashton Kutcher going for a massage yesterday.
