It was the mere suggestion that his fellow liberals should listen and seek to hear out to the ideas of conservatives that landed actor Mark Duplass in major hot water on Twitter.
“Fellow liberals: If you are interested at all in ‘crossing the aisle’ you should consider following Ben Shapiro,” Duplass tweeted, adding that Shapiro had once helped him for “no other reason than to be nice” and that his “intentions are good.”
The actor’s tweet ignited a firestorm on Twitter from liberals on the platform. This prompted “The League” actor to delete the tweet and issue an apology on the platform.
It’s always white men who think crossing the aisle is just about respecting a difference of opinion or willingness to be open minded.
A lot of us have our lives and human rights put in jeopardy by the horseshit people like Ben promote.
But cool, an asshole was nice to you once.
— ally (@missmayn) July 18, 2018
God this Duplass thing has triggered me. Guys like Ben Shapiro aren’t interested in being understood and they’re certainly not interested in compromise. They’re interested in mainstream acceptance of abhorrent ideas. Your Duplasses and your Kanyes are effective vehicles for that.
— Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) July 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/ShutUpAndrosky/status/1019682523805184000
Calling his original tweet a “disaster on many levels,” Duplass said, “I want to be clear that I in no way endorse hatred, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, or any such form of intolerance. My goal has always been to spread unity, understanding and kindness.”
Saying that he believes “deeply in bi-partisan understanding,” Duplass said he would “continue to do [his] best to promote peace and decency in the world right now.”
“I am going to make mistakes along the way,” he said. “Sometimes I move too quickly when I get excited, or fail to do enough research, or I don’t communicant myself clearly. I’m really sorry. I now understand that I have to be more diligent and careful. I’m working on that.”
— Mark Duplass (@MarkDuplass) July 19, 2018
Shapiro also weighed in on the controversy:
Today's Leftist lesson on Twitter: write a nice tweet about someone with whom you disagree politically, get labeled a racist sexist homophobe. Good stuff, guys. Really showing that tolerant streak.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 18, 2018
So in 24 hours I apparently went from being a person with good intentions to a racist sexist bigot. Twitter toxifies any attempt to cross the aisle. There's no conservative Mark could have recommended who wouldn’t receive the same blowback. https://t.co/JEizw69eFH
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 19, 2018
