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Sony Pictures says ‘we had no choice’ when it comes to the decision not to release ‘The Interview’. The company is speaking out after President Obama held a news conference Friday. And the FBI confirmed that the North Korean government is behind the Sony cyber attack and terror threats.
President Obama spoke shortly after the FBI determined North Korea was behind the attack on Sony Pictures which of course produced the controversial film, ‘The Interview’.
It’s a satirical depiction of a plot to assassinate North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. During his year-end news conference, the President says America and companies operating in the U.S. can’t censor freedom of expression due to threats from foreign dictators. Obama also made it clear that Sony did not consult with him before pulling the plug on the movie: “Sony is a corporation. It suffered significant damage. There were threats against their employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they face. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake. I wish they had spoken to me first. I would’ve told them do not get into a pattern in which you’re intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks.”
“They caused a lot of damage. And we will respond. We will respond proportionally, and we’ll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose.”
The CEO of Sony Pictures is responding to President Obama’s criticism. During an interview with CNN Michael Lynton said he was disappointed in the president’s remarks and that Obama, the media and the public are mistaken about what’s actually happened: “When a threat came out from what was called the GOP at the time, threatening audiences who would go to the movie theatres, the movie theatres came to us, one-by-one over the course of a very short period of time, we were completely surprised by it, and announced that they would not carry the movie. At that point in time, we had no alternative but to not proceed with a theatrical release on the 25th of December. And that’s all we did. We have not caved, we have not given in, we have persevered and we have not backed down.”
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, declined to comment on Sony’s decision to cancel the movie’s release, but says cyber security has become an emerging issue for governments and private sectors around the world: “Obviously, the implied threat that we’ve seen are not to be taken lightly. I’ll leave it to others to analyze Sony’s decisions. It might have been a moot point when the four big distributors were refusing to put it into theatres. Obviously, we are concerned about freedom of expression. And that’s why this will obviously be a growing concern for us.”
Industry analysts say because of the hack, Sony could lose an estimated one hundred million dollars or more, as well as its ability to recruit top filmmakers. The studio has also cancelled tours of its lot until next year because of security concerns.
