Sony Pictures' Amy Pascal Announces Plan to Step Down After Hacking Scandal
A prominent executive at Sony Pictures has announced she is stepping down from her post after a highly-publicized hacking scandal that erupted late last year.
Amy Pascal, co-chair of the production company, announced Thursday that she will be stepping down from her post to pursue a private venture that will be backed by Sony Pictures. Pascal was involved in a scandalous hacking scandal in late 2014 that resulted in several personal and damaging emails being leaked to the public.
Pascal said in a statement Thursday that she is starting "a new production venture" backed by Sony Pictures that will begin in May.
"I have spent almost my entire professional life at Sony Pictures and I am energized to be starting this new chapter based at the company I call home," she added, saying she has been discussing the chang for "quite some time".
Pascal and other Sony executives were the target of a massive hacking scandal led by a group called Guardians of Peace. Dozens of email exchanges between Pascal and others in the movie business were leaked to the public. In one exchange, Pascal pokes fun at President Barack Obama's African American race, and in other emails, Pascal bashes prominent actress Angelina Jolie and comedian Kevin Hart.
Some have suggested that it is necessary for Pascal to step down from her post following the damage her emails inflicted.
"When you have a scandal of this magnitude, there needs to be some kind of executive change," Matthew Belloni, executive editor for The Hollywood Reporter, told USA Today. "Especially when you're dealing with a Japanese corporation where the leaders routinely take the fall for bad things that happen to the company."
