Ashton Kutcher has been in a race against CNN to see who would be the first to get 1 million followers on Twitter. Apparently this is very, very important news because CNN has been talking about it constantly. And not just on their website – on live T.V. too. It was something like, “Barack Obama blah blah blah Twitter blah blah blah Hillary Clinton blah blah Twitter blah in these tough economic times blah Twitter blah blah.” That is a direct quote; I checked CNN’s transcripts. So you can guess how bummed the network had to be when they ended up losing to Kutcher last night. Who was joined in his online celebration by wife Demi Moore and for some unknown reason Soleil Moon Frye and P. Diddy via phone. Alright.

Ashton Kutcher has become the first member of Twitter to have over one million followers. Surrounded by his wife, Demi Moore , Soleil Moon Frye and Sean “Diddy” Combs supporting him via phone, the star officially crossed the one million mark, beating out rival CNN Breaking News shortly after 11 PM Pacific time. “Where’s the champagne, where’s the champagne,” Ashton said on his Ustream.TV web feed just a short while before reaching his goal. “We’ve gotta pop the cork on this folks.”

CNN, which lost by less than 1,200 followers, quickly congratulated the star. “Congrats @aplusk. Ashton Kutcher is the first twitter account to reach 1MM followers,” someone wrote on their Twitter account page. The race was a tight one with only a handful of followers separating the two Tweeters as their numbers inched closer to one million on Thursday evening. “Tell me this isn’t better than watching tv,” Ashton Tweeted on Thursday, just a few hours before he crossed the finish line. “We get to participate in the entertainment. I feel like I’m directing an episode of punk’d”

Ashton was in the lead for most of the day, but just before 10 PM local time, CNN took over the top spot, leaving the actor to Tweet about the news network’s on-air push for more followers. “Why R they pushing so hard if this doesn’t mean anything? It’s a changing of the guard. the old way the new way,” he wrote, as his followers reported back that CNN was using their live broadcast to seek out new followers.

Ashton promised if he became the first user to reach 1 million followers on Twitter, he would buy 10,000 mosquito nets, a pledge he repeated on Thursday afternoon. “I’m calling to have a check made out for $100,000 to the Malaria No More Fund,” he wrote.

[From OMG]

Well I’m glad something good came out of this little competition. I don’t really like to support anything Ashton Kutcher does because he’s the most inane, moronic, obnoxious guy on the planet. Who really thinks it’s useful to post pictures of Demi’s butt onto his Twitter. Thanks. BUT, even my grouchy self can’t deny that 10,000 malaria nets are obviously a good thing. So congrats to Ashton. Hopefully now CNN can get back to repeating the phrase, “In these tough economic times,” every three minutes, instead of alternating it with Twitter talk.

Here are Ashton and Demi on the set of the new film ‘5 Killers’ in Nice, France on April 9th. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .