The CEO of Sony Entertainment criticized President Obama on Friday for shaming the company over its decision to cancel the release of the movie “The Interview” after threats from hackers.
President Obama told reporters earlier Friday that he believed Sony had made a mistake by bailing on the film’s Christmas Day release.
“I’m sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake,” Obama said.
Michael Lynton, the head of Sony Entertainment, disputed the President’s interpretation later in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.
“I don’t know exactly whether he understands the sequence of events that led up to the movie not being shown in the movie theaters,” Lynton said.
“Therefore I would disagree with the notion that it was a mistake,” he said.
Sony Entertainment cancelled the release of “The Interview” on Wednesday, after threats from hackers calling themselves “Guardians Of Peace” caused several major theater chains to back out of showing the film.
On Friday, the FBI released a statement saying the North Korean government — parodied in the film — was responsible for the threats and hacking.
“We have not given in. And we have not backed down. We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie,” Lynton told CNN.
yes, sir, you have.
Being a Japanese company, maybe Sony should talk to the Japanese government.
I can’t think of a clearer definition of “backing down” than Sony’s reaction to this whole incident.
Their actions have made everyone less safe and freedom of expression less possible.
Sony was basically forced to cancel the movie because all the major theater chains “backed down” and refused to show it. Sure, they could have released it to the few independent movie houses in a gesture of defiance but to what end?
Do tell, what exactly was the sequence of events?