Ashton Kutcher, Village Voice Sex Trafficking Twitter Feud Yields Ad Loss (SLIDESHOW)

Ashton Kutcher and the Village Voice are locked in a Twitter battle, disputing the facts behind sex trafficking and calling each other out on their respective examples of hypocricy.

It was on when the Village Voice published a cover story Wednesday titled "Real Men Get Their Facts Straight." The piece argued that there were 8,263 arrests for child prostitution in the U.S. during the last decade, compared to the 100,000 to 300,000 children Kutcher cited in his anti-trafficking campaign "Real Men Don't Buy Girls."

Now, Kutcher has roped in Voice advertisers. He tweeted to American Airlines, Columbia University, Disney and Domino's on Friday:

"...are you aware that you are advertising on a site that supports the Sale of Human Beings (slavery)?"

Kutcher was referring to the Voice's Backpage.com personal ads, which police and elected officials have accused of facilitating trafficking.

Since the feud erupted, American Airlines has pulled its ads and responded to Kutcher in a direct message on Twitter:

"Heads up: Ads should be down w/in the hour. Blank ads are being served for now."

In an editor's note, the Voice writes:

"From its earliest days, the Village Voice has run adult classifieds. Today, those classifieds are hosted online at Backpage.com....It is true that Village Voice Media has a stake in this discussion. But the facts speak for themselves."

The Voice says the best way to fight trafficking is to support U. S. Senate Bill 596, which would provide shelter and counseling for victims.

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Quick Poll

Who makes the better argument?

Village Voice, they did their fact-checking!

Ashton, he only played dumb on TV!

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Comments

[StressedJester]

08:44 AM on 07/28/2011

This is the problem with celebrities... they get snippets of information and then start using their status to make ill-formed decisions which people have to address because of the influence that comes with that status.

[Bink Miller]

05:51 PM on 07/26/2011

A note to Mr. Kutcher: read 'Soldier of Fortune' magazine and you'll see some shockers. You can't cure the world's ills by tweeting. Your party boy image does not add creedence to your causes. You live a silly lifestyle, make silly movies, make silly TV, no one takes you seriously. It's gonna take a long long time for Mr. Kutcher to live down Punk'd.

[Solurius]

09:25 AM on 07/23/2011

Village Voice states it supports a bill that provides counseling and shelter for victims. How about they support not HAVING any victims? Pull the ads that are offensive. Oh, wait, that would mean a lost revenue and we certainly can't have THAT.

[Katheryn McRae]

10:41 AM on 07/22/2011

Being a child of sever sexual abuse, I say "Thank you to Ashton & Demi' !

[mark7371]

06:05 AM on 07/22/2011

Good job Mr. Kutcher....Good job American Airlines!

[skylerzx]

01:30 AM on 07/22/2011

Recently on AOL news...Ashton Kutcher, in the long process of a sex change operation. To be completed in 2018 as he/she retires from the limlight. So, what is up with that...Now that sounds questionable to me?

[MerrieWay]

10:48 AM on 07/16/2011

Ashton Power... sex ads should be illegal... in public newspapers... why? Cut the connection to this atrocity in any venue. Our constitution, needs an overhaul, when it comes to the first amendment. Prostitution is illegal. And, sex-trafficking should be considered... YOU, ME decide, WE the people, what taking a young life away is worth.

[skylerzx]

01:35 AM on 07/22/2011

This from a guy who makes his living saying "you got punked" hardly a voice of reason...

[TRhett]

07:30 AM on 07/16/2011

Good cause, questionable proponent.

[Bink Miller]

05:27 PM on 07/26/2011

Good point. Kutcher doesn't really put out any quality products.

[dbrett480]

09:54 PM on 07/13/2011

The most important question that needs to be asked is why any self-proclaimed human rights advocate will support the village voice.

[ValdaDeDieu]

09:04 PM on 07/09/2011

It is an under-reported crime, more so than most, because by its nature, it lends itself to the underground. The victims are vulnerable, they literally have no resources--or the education, developed intelligence and self-esteem to find resources and/or to fight back. Worse yet, they are brainwashed, like battered women, to feel that the situation is somehow their fault.

The perpetrators --the profiteers and pedophiles-- of course keep their participation secret. And thus is its perpetration.

Instead of a war on drugs, we should have a war on child prostitution. The damage to our society from this crime has been incalculable.

[jsrl317]

03:05 AM on 07/10/2011

Ok, well all agree, we should re-allocate resources to this issue over some others. Now how about some programs like increasing the educational opportunities in poor countries - especially for women (fact: The more education, especially of women, in any given society, the less likelihood of exploitation exists, the data proves this), increasing literacy, deceasing the gaps between rich and poor, providing opportunity, developing infrastructure, and informing the public that when we do not have the resources to help people it leaves the vulnerable open to exploitation?

People have got to see the links of buying clothes made in some female sweatshop, versus them getting made here, where they'll be more expensive, BUT the opportunities for exploitation, due to our laws, is much less. I provide Saipan as a model for the light bringing down a once American run exploitation island:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saipan

In the end it is about exploitation of people, not just kids. If you can exploit anyone, then you can exploit everyone. That is the larger message. We've a duty to save them all.

[ValdaDeDieu]

06:51 PM on 07/10/2011

When you have a dirty pest-ridden house, you FIRST get kill of the bugs, then you clean the house. Otherwise the bugs come back--to a clean house!

Every child sex trafficker and their "clients--ergo, the so-called "men" who prey on children's bodies, every pedophile, in rich or poor countries (because, yes, there are pedophiles in RICH countries too, it is a perversion exacerbated, but not CAUSED by poverty), every pederast, every predator, should be jailed--or dead.

And frankly, I prefer dead.

Because all children deserve a chance to grow up without fear.

[Gary Brooks]

08:42 AM on 07/23/2011

They can"t handle the truth

[Curtis inSF]

06:22 PM on 07/21/2011

Did you read the Village Voice piece? This isn't about any under reporting, this is about creating false concern over a completely legitimate problem by using patently distorted and clearly exaggerated statistics in a way that is tantamount to lying. Kutcher and Co. should be able to rely on the sadness and tragedy of the real level of actual child sex trafficking to prove their point, not by using phony bloated data to create false hysteria. Shame on him for turning his power around trying to destroy a newspaper. He's being a total Assh*le.

[skylerzx]

01:31 AM on 07/22/2011

Plus his sex change thing

[Tom Hendricks]

10:55 AM on 07/09/2011

Instead of us voting on facts, why don't you find out and report - that's why newspapers do.

[Isenki]

02:40 AM on 07/10/2011

Hear, hear.

[Stephen Guy Hardin]

08:11 AM on 07/09/2011

Good job outing the hypocrisy of The Village Voice and it's so called progressive philosophy. They'll in it for the money just like the rest of the establishment... they can call themselves Democrats but they vacation and school their kids and attend the same parties as the Republicans they attack...

[jsrl317]

03:07 AM on 07/10/2011

Indeed, it's about monies versus non-moneyed interests.

[Thenonyak]

10:46 PM on 07/06/2011

Huffpost please proofread your articles before publishing. First sentence ... the word 'hypocrisy' is misspelled.

[oftenon]

10:57 PM on 07/05/2011

Ashton uses a ghost tweeter. He cares that much.

[shakesome]

07:42 PM on 07/05/2011

It's curious that many of the so-called 'progressive' newspapers (in this town, it's the 'arts' / 'alternative music scene' mag) promote all kinds of sex hookups, many of which are clearly prostitution. I don't see that in mags that cater to groups that tend to the conservative/ religious side of things.

[DaydreamingTori]

09:51 PM on 07/05/2011

I would LOVE to see an add for OBC in a religious newspaper.

[Isenki]

02:42 AM on 07/10/2011

There are ads for strip clubs all over the newspapers where I live, but it's the need for money, not ideology, that drives these ads. Don't be so naive.