Ashton Kutcher has defended Airbnb when it comes to doing business in Israel. He did so when confronting a BDS bozo at an Airbnb promotional event over the weekend.
Some people are not happy with Airbnb because it lets Israelis sublet apartments for short term rentals which are located across the pre-1967 boundary along the West Bank. One such person who is affiliated with a group called CODEPINK interrupted Ashton Kutcher as he was making a presentation on Saturday at the Airbnb Open 2016 in Los Angeles.
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A woman who has been identified as Ariel Gold rushed the stage with a banner reading, “AIRBNB Out of Settlements” while shouting some anti-Israel nonsense. Ashton, to his credit, was very cordial with the woman and extended his hand saying, “how’s it going.”
He then said, “Let me explain to you something about what Airbnb means to me, ” in an attempt to diffuse the situation.
Gold then shouted, “”Let me first tell you what Airbnb is doing to Palestinians!”
Ashton Kutcher then said, “Well, you actually don’t have the stage.” This was greeted with a huge round of applause.
The actor should be commended for keeping his composure. Celebrities are always under threat from stalkers and lunatics who would do them harm and here Kutcher did not panic and run from the stage.
When Gold continued to rant she was met with boos. Then Kutcher tried to continue with his presentation saying, “What Airbnb is doing is bringing people together.”
This was met with cheers.
Gold was then escorted off of the stage by security.
Through it all Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky never left the stage. Kutcher is an investor in the company and a friend of Chesky’s which is why he spoke at the event.
Ashton Kutcher finished by saying that the owners of Airbnb would not tolerate discrimination. “I know this man, I know his heart, I know his initiative, ” he said. “And I know that when a problem gets brought to his desk that says that there is a discrimination or this is a displacement, that he cares. And that the first thing that he does is try to look at the system holistically and change it to make it better.
The actor then invited people to sit down with him and have a calm and reasonable discussion.
“You’re welcome to a world where we all belong. And if you want to sit down and have a conversation about it, I’m happy to have that conversation with you.”
Ashton Kutcher can currently be seen on the new Netflix show “The Ranch.”
