Obama Weighs In On Sony's Decision to Pull THE INTERVIEW: 'They Made a Mistake'

According to several reports, President Barack Obama said today, December 19, that Sony Pictures Entertainment should have spoken to him before deciding to cancel the release of its controversial film THE INTERVIEW after the studio faced threats from hackers.

"Sony's a corporation. It suffered significant damage. There were threats against some of its employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake," Obama said in his year-end press conference. "I would have told them 'Do not get into a pattern in which you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks.' That's not who we are. That's not what America's about."

Obama continued: "We cannot have a society in which some dictators someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States. Imagine what they start doing once they see a documentary that they don't like or news reports that they don't like."

The FBI confirmed earlier today that North Korea was behind the cyber attacks on Sony. THE INTERVIEW, which stars James Franco and Seth Rogen, features a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The FBI said in its 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.

"While the need to protect sensitive sources and methods precludes us from sharing all of this information, our conclusion is based, in part, on similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks.

"We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there,' the FBI said in the brief statement.

"Further, North Korea's attack on SPE (Sony Pictures Entertainment) reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States.

"North Korea's actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves,' the FBI said. "Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior."

Earlier today BWW reported that Sony has received a second threat warning the studio not to release the controversial film THE INTERVIEWon VOD or elsewhere. Read the article in full here.

THE INTERVIEW follows Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show "Skylark Tonight." When they discover that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is a fan of the show, they land an interview with him in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists. As Dave and Aaron prepare to travel to Pyongyang, their plans change when the CIA recruits them, perhaps the two least-qualified men imaginable, to assassinate Kim Jong-un.

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