In several tweets, Ashton Kutcher defended Uber from its critics, including asking what is not right about "digging up dirt on a shady journalist."
Uber has been receiving an increased amount of criticism lately as executives for the ride-sharing company have reportedly said a series of statements that step over the privacy of their passengers.
Emil Michael, Uber's senior vice president of business, was said to have proposed that certain journalists should be the subject of investigations, including their personal and family lives, by operatives for Uber.
Michael reportedly said during a dinner in New York that Uber should hire researchers to "dig up dirt on its critics in the media," according to a report published by BuzzFeed.
While Michael has since apologized for the remarks that he made, Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber and Michael's boss, has expressed his disagreement with the thoughts expressed by Michael that there is "sensational media coverage" on Uber.
"[Michael's] remarks showed a lack of leadership, a lack of humanity and a departure from our values and ideals," tweeted Kalanick.
In addition, Uber confirmed that it is investigating whether one of the company's general managers, Josh Mohrer from the New York office of Uber, violated the privacy policies of the company by tracking the location of a reporter.
Mohrer allegedly used Uber's tracking tool "God's View" to monitor the whereabouts of a reporter for Buzzfeed earlier in November, which the news service also reported.
Uber said in a statement that accessing the personal data of its customers is only limited for "legitimate business purposes," and that all employees found to be in violation of the rule could be fired.
Despite the allegations, Kutcher held firm in the tweets that he posted in defense of Uber, wherein he is an investor.
"So as long as journalist (sic) are interested and willing to print half truths as facts...Yes we should question the source," tweeted Kutcher, referring to the reports circulating on the allegations against Uber.
Kutcher, however, should be reminded that Uber was given by the Better Business Bureau a rating of F, and that several business practices of the company have already previously received intense criticism, including strategies that looked to severely undermine the operations of its rival ride-sharing companies.
Uber, as a company, has always emitted a sense of arrogance with the way it carries out its business, as if the company believes that it is above the law.
Despite his controversial comments, Michael was not fired and was just instead told by Kalanick to learn from his mistakes.
