"Jobs" actor and investor Ashton Kutcher, 39, responded to the social media backlash that resulted to the suggested questions in his proposed open forum. His initiative to have a dialogue on women in the workplace was praised but the questions he suggested were not taken positively.
Ashton Kutcher proposed dialogue criticized
One woman CEO named Joelle Emerson wrote as a reaction that the “The Long Home” actor asked the wrong questions. Another one wrote that the questions do not help anyone especially the women who are the center of the forum.
Yikes. These are definitely *not* the right questions. Most rely on flawed assumptions and perpetuate problematic myths. pic.twitter.com/vUF1CVBcOt
— Joelle Emerson (@joelle_emerson) July 7, 2017
The actor who played Apple founder Steve Jobs shared a series of tweets that explain his side as reported by People.
thank you everyone for the feedback on the questions I posted on LinkedIn. Good and bad. Already a learning experience.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
Looking to host an open live conversation on Monday morning on my FB page about gender equality in the work place
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
I've already offended some folks by asking the wrong questions. I'm certain given the sensitivity of the topic I will say other things wrong
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
Hope we can find space to be wrong in the pursuit of getting it right.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
We have centuries of ground to make up in a short order & I don't want the basics to be off limits. some clearly don't yet get the basics.
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017
Joining the “Cheaper by the Dozen” star at the discussion will be his partner at Sound Ventures, Effie Epstein.
Their company is a venture capital firm founded by Guy Oseary and Kutcher. The panel is still scheduled to be live streamed on Facebook on Monday morning.
Kutcher is the founder of AGrade and he owns Katalyst Media, Blekko,Flipboard, Milk and Zaarly plus 12 other undisclosed investments. He is now one of the most successful entertainer investors in the industry.
Huffington Post reported that the actor made some efforts to address the issue of gender inequality in the work place with the women on the losing end. Mila Kunis’ husband announced through his Linkedln account that he and his partner are holding an open forum on the issue of gender inequality in the workplace. He then proceeded by posting a series of questions that may be asked during the event.
Silicon Valley sexual harassment scandals
Mashable’s Emma Hinchliffe responded that Kutcher is out to protect the elite men of Silicon Valley that were accused of sexual harassment. Dave McClure has been forced to resign from his post as co-founder of Binary Capital because of sexual harassment complaints filed by six women. Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber was also forced to resign from the company. Many other elite men of Silicon Valley were accused, thus, Demi Moore's ex-husband's efforts are focused on helping his colleagues.
The women's complaints include harassment during negotiations as the entrepreneur's were offered business in exchange of themselves. Bringing their issues against the elite men in the tech industry has resulted in men losing their positions and their integrity.
Despite backlash, Ashton Kutcher is determined to go on with the planned dialogue. In this way, he can show the tech world that there are those who desire to put glory back to the tech industry which has been tainted with gender inequality and sexual harassment.
