Digital News Report- Many were shocked by the death of Kutner’s death on Monday night’s episode of House. Kutner, who was played by Kal Penn of Harold and Kumar fame, allegedly committed suicide, though House believes it may have been a murder. Regardless of the cause, the sudden departure of the character came as a shock to many fans. It caused such a stir that wikipedia was forced to lock down Kutner’s entry.
However, it appears that Kal Penn may be off to bigger and better things. President Barack Obama has asked Penn to be the Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. He’ll specifically be helping connect the President with Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities and arts groups. That’s right, Kumar has gone to the White House.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, however. Penn was active in Obama’s campaign as part of his National Arts Policy Committee. He also appeared in Obama’s “Sí Se Puede Cambiar” video.
This doesn’t mean that he’s abandoning acting, however. In an interview with eonline, Penn says, “I certainly intend to come back [to acting] at some point, but right now I just felt like my calling was in public service.”
But for now, Kumar smoking dope with Bush will have to be put on hold while Penn does actual work with the current president.