Kutcher Paterno Tweet: Hollywood Star Shouldn't Apologize for Support of Joe Pa

In the wake of Penn State's firing of head football coach Joe Paterno, Two and a Half Men star Ashton Kutcher posted a Twitter statement in support of the man who has been the face of Penn State football since 1966.

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How do you fire Jo Pa? #insult #noclass as a hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste.

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Kutcher was then bombarded with negative messages and ended up deleting the controversial tweet. This prompted Kutcher to tell his eight million followers that he didn't have the full story with regards to Paterno's role in the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

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Heard Joe was fired, fully recant previous tweet! Didn’t have full story

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Whether or not Kutcher knew about the Paterno situation when he posted that initial tweet is questionable, but it honestly doesn't matter. If thousands of Penn State students and football fans can support Paterno, then why not Kutcher?

While Paterno's neglect to alert authorities after he was told by assistant Mike McQueary that Sandusky was engaging in inappropriate conduct with a young boy is troubling, we don't yet know the full story.

It is quite possible that is was McQueary's word against Sandusky's in 2002, and it would be hard to blame Paterno for believing Sandusky. For Paterno, Sandusky was a valued assistant for many years, and he was presumably a friend as well.

Ultimately, whether Paterno was neglectful or not, he took the fall for something Sandusky did. I believe that is the way Kutcher felt, but with so much backlash against him, he decided to take the easy way out and retract his statement.

Kutcher then posted a long apology and said that he would quit Twitter for the time being.

It isn't as if anybody should be heartbroken from Kutcher's self-imposed Twitter hiatus, but he was essentially forced out for having an opinion that many actually share. If Kutcher came out in support of Sandusky, then that would be one thing, but anything involving Paterno is hearsay right now.

While it is probably true that Kutcher should stick to talking about things he knows like cameras and hair products, he is entitled to his opinion, no matter how controversial it is. If Kutcher was truly against the Paterno firing, then he should have stood up and defended his tweet rather than run away with his tail between his legs.