President Obama: Sony ‘Made A Mistake’ By Pulling ‘The Interview’

During his year-end press conference earlier today, President Obama was asked for his opinion on Sony indefinitely pulling The Interview from their release schedule, and he was about as direct as you’re ever going to hear a politician get. Obama first admitted that, yes, Sony’s a corporation and they “suffered significant damage, there were threats against its employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they face.” And yet: “I think they made a mistake.”

“We cannot have a society where some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States. Because if somebody’s going to intimidate them for releasing a satirical movie, imagine what’s going to happen when there’s a documentary they don’t like. Even worse, if producers and distributors start engaging in self-censorship because they don’t want to offend the sensibilities of somebody who frankly probably needs their sensibilities offended. That’s not who we are. That’s not who Americans are.

Again, I’m sympathetic to Sony…but I wish they had spoken to me first.” (Via)

That’s a dad move right there. He later added:

“I think it says something about North Korea,” Obama says, that it would “mount an all-out attack over a satirical film…starring Seth Rogen. That gives you a sense of the regime we’re talking about here.” (Via)

Also, at one point, Obama said “James Flacco,” so expect that to be a thing.

Via Deadline

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