President Obama essentially sold out Sony this afternoon at a press conference. Instead of backing Sony execs Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton for pulling “The Interview,” he basically kicked them to the curb. Ouch.
Obama was obviously not happy with the race joke emails that came out in the hack, particularly the one between Pascal and producer Scott Rudin about which movies he liked. The two joked that Obama probably went for “Django Unchained,” “The Butler” and other black themed movies.
Obama’s public repudiation came at a price. Pascal has been a heavy Democratic donor. In 2008, she gave the Democratic National Committee $26,200. In 2011, she gave them $35,800. She also donated $5,000 to Obama. Michael Lynton donated $20,000 to the DSCC last May. He’s given $50,800 since 2011 to the DNC.
All that money didn’t matter. In one fell swoop (as they used to say) Obama told the execs what he thought of their private email exchanges. He may have also gotten a little zetz in for Denzel Washington, who was treated shabbily as well.
