{alltv} Ashton Kutcher Safe From Federal Investigation for Details Article

Friday, August 19, 2011

{alltv} Ashton Kutcher Safe From Federal Investigation for Details Article

After all the battling Ashton Kutcher does on Twitter over stories about him, you'd think he'd be supercareful with the stories done by him.

It was discovered that when the Two and a Half Men star guest-edited the latest issue of Details, eight out of 12 products that were recommended in one article were Kutcher investments.

This led the Federal Trade Commission to become suspicious and reveal to the New York Times Thursday that this was a "potential problem" for the actor.

Now, eh, not so much.

So what happened?

Here's a little background:

Kutcher served as a guest editor for the online-only version of the mag, for which he also graces the cover of the September print issue, on stands now.

The Internet-loving actor's edition was labeled "The Social Issue" and profiled start-up Internet companies that Kutcher liked—problem was, he was an investor in most of the companies he listed.

This drew the attention of FTC's assistant director of advertising practices Richard Cleland, who said Kutcher had an obligation to readers to fully discolse his ties to the companies.

"If you're out there promoting individual products that you have a specific investment in, it needs to be disclosed," Cleland told the Times, adding, "It's certainly a possibility that a case like this could be investigated."

However, there did turn out to be a small mention of Kutcher's investments in the introduction to the story, which says, he "puts his money where his mouth is, backing many of the companies he champions here."

Today, Kutcher appeared to be in the clear after the FTC issued a statement on its Twitter page saying: "The F.T.C. is not and has no plans to investigate Ashton Kutcher." The quote is attributed to consumer protection director David Vladeck.