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Ashton Kutcher is not having a good week. First rumors emerged that he and wife Demi Moore were on the rocks after a possible cheating scandal. And now -- after only two episodes -- his new CBS bosses are reportedly peeved with him, too.
On this week's episode of the revamped Two and a Half Men, Kutcher's character, Internet billionaire Walden Schmidt, is shown using a laptop that looks like a MacBook Pro. But if you look closely, audiences will see that the laptop is covered with stickers promoting various social media sites like Foursquare, Chegg, Flipboard and GroupMe.
And although that seems in character for an Internet entrepreneur, 33-year-old Kutcher has a financial stake in some of those companies -- notably Foursquare -- that required a disclaimer in the credits to follow FCC regulations.
"Very cool - @aplusk shows off @thehipmunk @chegg @foursquare @groupme stickers on Two and a Half Men PIC from @dens," twittered Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley.
Kutcher's stunt may have endeared him to the companies he invests in, but CBS executives were not as pleased with what amounts to free publicity for businesses that did not pay for advertising on the show -- even if executive producer Chuck Lorre OK'd the stickered prop.
"This was not part of any advertising transaction with CBS," a network rep confirmed to E! News. "Our policy is to disclose such financial interests in a credit at the end of the broadcast."
So far, there's been no comment from Kutcher, who's besieged with personal publicity problems this week. But CBS will reportedly blur out the stickers in future episodes if they're visible again.
