Ashton Kutcher shuts down protester calling for 'Airbnb out' of Israeli settlements
Hollywood actor and technology enthusiast defends online vacation rental company in the face of disruptive demonstrator's rant about West Bank settlements.
American actor and investor Ashton Kutcher(photo credit: REUTERS)ByJPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: As American actor and investor Ashton Kutcher took the stage Saturday to speak at the Los Angeles event, Airbnb Open 2016 A Festival of Hosting, one protester had different plans. According to People Magazine a protestor stormed the stage yelling about Airbnb's housing options in West Bank settlement communities.The woman, identified as Ariel Gold, was representing CODEPINK, an organization that identifies itself as "a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement." One of the group's main protest subjects are Israeli settlements in the West Bank.Dressed in a pink getup Gold stormed the stage, as many in the crowd booed, and she held a poster bearing the slogan "Airbnb Out of Settlements" and featuring the group's Twitter handle.Footage of the incident captured by one attendee showed Kutcher greeting the protestor, shaking her hand and asking her how she is. "Let me explain to you something about what Airbnb means to me," stated Kutcher."Let me first tell you what Airbnb is doing to Palestinians,"shouted back Gold"Well you also don't have the stage," Kutcher responded.Kutcher continued to defend the peer-to-peer rental company, and Airbnb's founder Brian Chesky.