Amy Pascal on Whether She’s So Damaged She Can No Longer Lead Sony (Exclusive)

The studio chairman breaks her silence on the scandal and answers the question everyone is asking

Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal has been pummelled by a hacking scandal at her studio that has seen the entire contents of her email leaked online by still unknown cyber-attackers. She spoke to TheWrap on Thursday after another punishing day of leaks during which the executive was forced to apologize for a series of emails that had racially insensitive references.

What happens from here?  The leaks seem not to be stopping.
I have a studio to run. We are putting movies out. Everyone here is working. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. It’s business as usual here.

Are you damaged to the point where you cannot be effective as chief executive?
I hope that’s not true. I hope that’s not true. I don’t think it’s true. I’d be surprised if my entire legacy was based on the leak of the email exchange. Really what I’m focused on is looking forward to the future. These times can be quite transformative.

Are you aware that Bloomberg has a story that employee health records had been leaked?
I was not aware. There’s a meeting waiting for me (to provide an update).

What can you do to stop the leaking?
We’re doing everything that we can to stop the leaking. There’s very little you can do when someone has stolen your property.

Do you believe there is other embarrassing information in your email that will see the light of day?
I don’t know. They have everyone’s emails in this company for the last 10 years.

So why are they only releasing yours?
I don’t know. It’s the press that is deciding what they want to release. The data was all dumped. People are just deciding what they want to publish.

I don’t believe all the emails were leaked.
I imagine that all the information that was stolen for this company will be available at some point if people want to find it.  What I’m focused on is healing and going forward.

I understand you received another email message from the hackers today?
I don’t want to speculate about that.

But there was another message today?
If it’s online, then you have it. I know there was one sent.

What has been the message from Tokyo (headquarters)?
Tokyo is very supportive.

But what specifically?
They are saying, “We are here.”

How would you characterize company morale at this point?
Everyone is banding together to get through this. Sometimes adversity leads to banding together in a positive way. I’m really proud of the way they have been stepping up.

 

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