The press junket for Kevin Hart‘s upcoming film “The Wedding Ringer” is back on just days after Sony’s Screen Gems pulled the plug following the studio’s hack attack, a broadcast journalist who’s slated to attend the event told TheWrap.
“It’s going to be held from January 4th to 5th,” the individual said on Tuesday. A Sony insider also confirmed the date change.
As TheWrap previously reported, the gathering was originally set to take place this past weekend in Los Angeles. But at the last minute, Screen Gems notified journalists that it was being “postponed.”
“We all got emails,” a journalist told TheWrap over the weekend, after being notified just 24 hours in advance that his interview with Hart was off.
The dizzying schedule changes all took place after documents obtained by Defamer revealed a March email thread between Sony executives Amy Pascal, Michael Lynton and Screen Gems President Clint Culpepper, in which Hart was called a “whore.”
In the exchange, the three executives complained about an upcoming movie, specifically that the comedian’s team requested more money to utilize his 14.4 million Twitter followers and other social platforms to promote the film.
While Hart’s team said he would happily do the normal publicity rounds like junkets and photo calls, the emails hinted that he wanted additional compensation to pitch the movie on social media.
“I’m not saying he’s a [money] whore, but he’s a whore,” Culpepper wrote.
Hart responded to the leaked emails on Thursday with a message on his Instagram page.
“I worked very hard to get where I am today. I look at myself as a brand and because of that I will never allow myself to be taking advantage of…” the comedian’s Instagram post said.
Moments after TheWrap reported on Sunday that the junket was off, Hart took to Twitter and posted a message reassuring fans that the promotional campaign would be shifting into high gear.
Me & @joshgad are about to be everywhere people….we are about to promote the shit out of this film….We are going INTERNATIONAL BABY
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 14, 2014