Chris Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, is expressing regret over his silence in the November hack attack on Sony Pictures.
The embattled Sony, which saw huge economic loss, leaked employee information and terror threats, had no immediate vocal support from Dodd and the MPAA, nor other major studios at the time.
The former Senator tells Variety, “this was an attack on free speech and private property and as the head of the MPAA, I should have been more vocal.”
“This happened to a member of our family,” he said.
Dodd, offering the trade his first substantive comments on the matter, said “in retrospect I wish I’d spoken out more.
“But you live and learn and you move on. Now Sony is back on its feet and the industry is pulling together around it.”
Dodd does claim to have made behind-the-scenes efforts to support the studio and its chiefs Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal. Lynton and Dodd reached out to rival studios in December, TheWrap reported, asking them to sign a letter of support.
The document never materialized, according to the New York Times, in part because execs across the industry felt it would be ineffective and might look like “a publicity stunt.”
Following the FBI”s conclusion in December regarding North Korea’s involvement in the Sony cyberattack and threats over the release of “The Interview,” Dodd spoke out against the “despicable, criminal act.”
“The FBI’s announcement that North Korea is responsible for the attack on Sony Pictures is confirmation of what we suspected to be the case: that cyberterrorists, bent on wreaking havoc, have violated a major company to steal personal information, company secrets and threaten the American public,” Dodd said in a statement. “It is a despicable, criminal act.”