Yesterday, we brought you the news that US Officials have concluded that North Korea was behind the Sony Pictures (click here if you missed it). Today, FBI officials released a statement to further confirm the earlier statement. “As a result of our investigation, and in close collaboration with other U.S. government departments and agencies, the FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions,” the statement read.
However, Sony Pictures decided to give in to the cyber terror threats from the Guardians of Peace, the group behind this hacking attack, who were displeased with the way the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was portrayed by cancelling the planned release of the satirical comedy ‘The Interview‘ in theaters, a decision that has subsequently generated widespread criticisms from celebrities and most recently the President of the United States, Barrack Obama who slammed the Company for acceding to their demands.
In a briefing with Reporters, President Obama said Sony made a mistake by yielding to the hackers’ demands not to release the movie. “We cannot have a society where some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States …That’s not who we are.”
Shortly after the President addressed the media, Chairman of Sony Pictures released a statement insisting that Sony Pictures made no mistake in pulling The Interview despite comments by President Obama earlier on the day regarding this. The CEO further argued “we have not backed down” and said that Sony still has “every desire to have the American public see this movie.” He also confirmed that the company is considering “a number of options”, which may require an intermediary like Netflix or a video-on-demand distributor and none he said, have “stepped forward and said they are willing.”
Furthermore, in an interview with Deadline on Thursday, George Clooney expressed his opinion regarding how cowardly the Sony Executives handled this matter saying “Here’s the brilliant thing they did, You embarrass them first, so that no one gets on your side. After the Obama joke, no one was going to get on the side of Amy, and so suddenly, everyone ran for the hills.”
Prior to the press briefing by Barrack Obama, several Hollywood celebrities including Ben Stiller, Robe Lowe, Steve Carrel and others had taken Twitter to voice their opinion and show their displeasure regarding Sony’s decision to pull the comedy from theaters.
Watch President Obama’s comments while addressing the press in the video below:
Below are other Celebrity tweets:
Really hard to believe this is the response to a threat to freedom of expression here in America. #TheInterview
— Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) December 18, 2014
Wow. Everyone caved. The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow.
— Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) December 17, 2014
Sad day for creative expression. #feareatsthesoul
— Steve Carell (@SteveCarell) December 17, 2014
Photo Credit: AP/Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images;
