President Obama said Sony made a mistake in shuttering the satirical film The Interview because of the cyber attack that leaked their private emails and the threat of terrorism at theaters in the U.S.
As has already been reported, the Department of Justice has pinpointed the communist country of North Korea as the culprit behind the major Hollywood security breach, which leaked emails, employees private information and other damaging data to the public.
Obama said that Hollywood cannot cowtow to the whims and “sensibilities of those whose sensibilities” need to be disrupted just because someone does not like a film or documentary or news program about them.
“I’m sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake,” Obama told a press conference. “We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States.”
Other celebrities, most notably Rob Lowe, have blasted Sony as cowards for canceling the Christmas release of The Interview. Obama, in concert with those sentiments, said that it cannot happen again in Hollywood and that Sony should have proceeded with the premiere of the controversial film that satirically sought to assassinate the North Korean dictator.
“I wish they (Sony) would have spoken to me first,” Obama said, adding that backing down to cyberspace terror is not an option.
“That’s not who we are.”
As for a proportionate response to the North Korean crime of infiltrating the sovereignty of the United States, Obama declined to disclose what he plans to do, or would he list the range of options — including military warfare — that he will be presented.
“We will respond proportionately at a place and time of our choosing,” Obama would only say.
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