Amy Pascal won’t quit Sony, ‘there’s a groundswell of celebrity support for her’

Amy Pascal has been having a bad month. The Sony Hack brings a new PR disaster every day, and Pascal has already been caught out as a casual racist who likes to email racist BS about the president of the United States and then tries to apologize to Jesse Jackson about it (??). She also got caught up in an email chain with Steve Mosko, the president of Sony Television, about how all of the movie stars want to make the move to TV these days. At one point, Pascal wrote: “…like everyone with half a brain these days television is the thing they want to do…[you’re] not used to TV being the new black baby.” As in, TV is the new trend after adopting “black babies,” I suppose. Sources told Radar that Pascal’s email is simply missing a comma, and she meant to write “TV being the new black, baby.” I’ve grown pretty familiar with the way Pascal emails, and let me tell you… nope. I’m not buying the comma defense.

So, you would think that every major power player would be distancing themselves from Pascal at this point, that she would become the “fall guy” for every disaster at Sony. Or at the very least, people would be appalled by her casual racism. Not so much. TMZ has learned that Pascal’s job is pretty secure, because power players are lined up behind her, defending her. What the what?

Sony Pictures Chief Amy Pascal will NOT step down … and we’re told there has been a groundswell of celebrity support for her to keep her job.

Our industry sources tell TMZ … more than 50 show biz big wigs — many of whom are celebrities — have contacted Pascal and other honchos at Sony voicing support for her. Ironically, a number of the supporters voice their sentiment via email to various execs at Sony.

We’re told the celebs who have come forward include Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Singleton, Jack Nicholson and Tyler Perry. As for that pic of Jolie with the steely look as Pascal hugged her … we’re told it was just a moment in time.

We’re told Pascal is winning some points by spending much of her time in the last few days focusing on the security and safety of the employees. Pascal is under fire for her emails with producer Scott Rudin about Prez Obama’s film preferences, which Rudin said ranged from “12 Years a Slave” to “Ride Along.” The people voicing support have gone out of their way to say they do not think Pascal is racist.

[From TMZ]

Perhaps this is a case of “there but before the grace of God go I” in Hollywood. Like, all of these power players have dirty secrets and stupid emails and bouts of racism and so they genuinely feel sympathy for someone that they see as just like them?

Oh, and I seriously doubt that Angelina is totally fine with Pascal. I really do. But Brad Pitt apparently made a statement about the Sony Hack to a British paper, saying:

“I think someone’s conversation, whether in email or in person, should be private. We shouldn’t be participating and these sites that are disseminating them should stop. They won’t. And we should stop reading them. We won’t. It’s more of an indictment on us, I think. I don’t see a difference in News Corp. hacking phone calls and hacking emails. I don’t think we should be able to participate. I think someone’s conversation, whether in email or in person, should be private.”

[Via Starpulse]

Yeah. Brad Pitt’s emails got hacked too, and they revealed the fact that he didn’t really believe in Fury. It’s like the Aaron Sorkin thing – because these people are being personally affected, it changes the way they think about their business.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.

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38 Responses to “Amy Pascal won’t quit Sony, ‘there’s a groundswell of celebrity support for her’”

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  1. twink says:

    OMG the comma defense is hilarious and completely UNbelievable!!

    • Luca76 says:

      I’m 50/50 on the comma defense this woman has terrible grammar she says u instead of you in emails so to me it’s possible but she’s also a business casual racist so.

    • Seán says:

      Yeah, she’s been outed as a casual racist already but her grammar is also pretty terrible, I’d be willing to believe it was just poor sentence structure or a typo.

    • Sarah says:

      That is too funny, I agree. No way. But the real crime Pascal has committed is going to a premier for The Interview looking like she just rolled out of bed. A sweater that fits and a brush through the hair would go a long way. Or is she trying to look haggard for sympathy? No way on the comma. No. way.

    • dilettante says:

      Yes, commas can make a huge difference. It’s like using misplaced commas to describe a panda: it eats, shoots, and leaves.

  2. LizLemonGotMarried says:

    Amy Pascal looks absolutely exhausted in recent photos. I could almost…almost…feel sorry for her.

  3. Luca76 says:

    Meh I’m sure La Jolie is pissed but I’m sure she’s hardened enough to the business to know what these f**ers are like. She’s always had a close professional relationship with Pascal and that’s the bottom line.
    Also Amy never said anything about her Rudin did.

    • nk868 says:

      yeah, exactly – in an exchange rudin was telling pascal to stop supporting la jolie’s cleo movie i thought. seems like pascal didnt do anything wrong to dame leggy and the pic was her emphatically denying saying anything bad about her?

  4. LadyMTL says:

    I wouldn’t be surprised if the industry does pull together behind Pascal, but it’s also sickening. I mean, that “comma defense” is laughable, and the woman has shown herself to be a racist as well. I do not feel sorry for her at all. She and Aaron Sorkin are simply pathetic.

  5. Arlene says:

    I think hacking is illegal and I actually think we’re supporting an illegal act by reading and distributing these emails. It’s like when Jennifer L’s private photos were published, I made it my business NOT to see them, and I, as much as possible, have not read the emails- bar reading the occasional headline. People have an expectation of privacy when conversing with another on a non public forum, it’s deeply unpleasant that we -as a society- should be so happy to undermine that.

    • scout says:

      Hacking is criminal, I agree. Eventually whoever did it will be found and prosecuted, no doubt. But atleast this way, Hollywood and other folks get a wake up call, treat others with respect and dignity from now on. They should just make good movies and be honest about it.

      • Mia4S says:

        Considering the “hackers” have moved on to threatening to slaughter innocent Americans in mass terror attacks for the crime of viewing a movie, I don’t think anyone is going to care about email contents anymore. The emails will change nothing but IT departments. Nothing about this is OK, or “at least”.

  6. lower-case deb says:

    problem is, you can’t really be a casual racist and an anti-punctuationist at the same time.
    at the very least you need to be a staunch believer of grammism and have a professional certificate in thesaurian calisthenics.

    failing that: an alien otter.

  7. scout says:

    Of course celebrities rally around her now! Remember she emailed something like this to a star/director/producer “you made a bad movie? Shucks, don’t worry. We will protect you and make it hit with (false) reviews. Best revenge is to make money!” Shameless.
    These movie makers and their protectors should be apologizing to the people who buy tickets with their hard earned money to enjoy what they think is “great” movies and get ripped off in the end, while bad movie makers become multimillionaires!

  8. Suki2 says:

    She said ‘TV is the new black’ like ‘Orange is the New Black’ and you know it. I have zero reason to like or defend her, but let’s be honest. There’s enough real stuff to write about here.

  9. Veronica says:

    I think her behavior is ridiculously inappropriate, but I do think Sony firing her would be tossing her under the bus. There are plenty of other parties there responsible for that sh*t show, so I’m not keen on one of the few high ranking female employees taking the entire fall for it.

    • lrm says:

      yea and she probably has eluded to an ‘If I go down, others will too’, response—if Sony tries to scapegoat her entirely. Anyway, if she has a close rapport [read: advocates for them] with ‘the talent’, then the studio will not want to lose that asset, either. They need someone who actors think is on their team. And she hasn’t said much about teh actors in these emails-in the Jolie one, she was asking Rudin to let her make the movie, etc. Pascal is politically savvy within this whole ecosystem. She’s silent but not silent at the same time.

  10. Kim1 says:

    Brad made that statement on the RC,I’ve seen the video on Enews,Extra TV,Access Hollywood,etc
    As Tyler Perry said Amy Pascal is responsible for greenlighting Annie and putting a Black girl in that iconic role despite the backlash.To me a racist is a person who feels one race is superior or inferior to another.Where is the evidence of Amy Pascal being a racist?
    If Amy was talking about doing a fundraiser for Hillary and mentioned we should show her Bridesmaids and other female oriented movies.Would we label her sexist or misogynistic? If so I am a racist and a sexist because have made similar jokes.I am Black and have made jokes about Blacks preferring to watch certain TV shows,movies,music,etc.
    Show me an email where Amy says Blacks are inferior.Show me an email where she says women are inferior.

    • Luca76 says:

      Your analogy is tone-deaf. There is no one act that will exonerate someone that makes a racist comment.

      • misstee says:

        I think you are tone deaf.

        – that you would think Pascal obviously taking the p*ss out of celebrity ego baskets who treat adopting babies from third world countries as some sort of fashion and moral accessories is racism – I cant even attempt the illogical jumps you make to assume that despite trying so I can empathise.

        What you are seeing really isn’t there…

      • Luca76 says:

        Wowza not sure what you are even talking about.
        Have a great day😄

      • Alicia says:

        I agree with Kim. If anybody would read my online conversations they woupd probably say say I am racist because I make jokes all the time about all the races. I am Hispanic and I make fun of Hispanics as well. I make fun or do jokes about ANYTHING, that is why they are jokes.

    • Josephine says:

      So she doesn’t think black people are inferior, she just enjoys stereotyping them for the sake of her lame jokes? She is exactly the type who thinks she is not racist, who thinks a little racist joke now and again isn’t hurting anyone. Personally I think she should be fired for being immature and slow-witted. Mostly what I get from these emails is that these people are petty and childish and it’s shocking that anyone would put them in charge of anything.

      • siri says:

        YES!!

      • cheryl says:

        I’m mostly struck at how juvenile these off the cuff, boy’s club, in-crowd, high roller now, comments are. Hardly zingers. Seems like grade eight again somehow.
        In truth, the commenters on this site deliver a far more lively punch line.

    • Mina says:

      KIM1, you are a genius. History will show that arguments like these are right beyond our current over-sensitive response to our past of social divide.

      Also, if Amy really did say “black baby”, I would take it as critical commentary. You have to admit that the fact that it WAS/IS a trend is disgusting, as is the intention of parading said kids for the sake of PR.

    • Emma - the JP Lover says:

      @Kim1 ….

      My guess is that you’re young. As a black woman who will turn 60 in March, I won’t voice an opinion. Have a great day.

  11. Josephine says:

    Sony stock is way down. I think it’s all a matter of how quickly it comes back up; if not quickly enough, I can see her going, but someone else will pick her up pretty quickly. Hollywood has always protected its racists, sexists, pedophiles, rapists, etc. The group has proven over and over again that its morals are flexible when it comes to making money, and we as the public have likewise proven that our attention span is too short to be outraged for more than a minute.

    • wolfpup says:

      +serious.

      I would add that often (!) Hollywood portrays the scumiest things in their films. What does that say about us, Brad?

    • siri says:

      Unfortunately, you’re right. And we, the public, shouldn’t waste any more brain cell on these self-righteous hypocrites. As long as we keep in mind how petty they actually are, we might still be able to occasionally enjoy a good movie. On the other hand, if I read that Polanski wants his case ‘dismissed’ because he wants to do a movie, I can’t really look away. What a shameful, shady bunch of people they are.

    • Xantha says:

      This is true of a lot of huge mega corporations. Hollywood has the same problems they do(corruption, systemic racism, backstabbing, etc.) but only with famous people who make movies.

  12. OTHER RENEE says:

    Some women should never be seen in public in a strapless dress. She’s one of them.

    But cattiness aside… this is one arrogant bitch.

  13. lucy2 says:

    Sony may not fire her, but they certainly can’t be too happy with her right now, or any of the people who have been caught saying less than stellar things. I’m not buying the comma thing.

    While this hacking is illegal and I do feel badly for anyone who had their personal information released with the Sony stuff (and a little guilty for reading the emails), I don’t think it’s quite the same situation as the photo hacking. These are professional communications on a corporations server, vs. someone’s private, personal account.

  14. Marianne says:

    Even though, hacking into the emails was wrong….it still doesn’t make them “private”. Its a work email. Even the government can look at our emails if they freaking want too.

    If you want to have a truly private conversation. Talk with that person face to face.

  15. Nikki says:

    I’m not sure how I feel about people getting hacked and then all of us persecuting them. We’ve all said crappy things in private conversations, things we’d be mortified to know others heard. While I think some of the things said were atrocious, yes, when do we draw the line about no longer being able to express ourselves even in personal circumstances?

    These aren’t public comments, they’re private. People are free to believe and say whatever they like, especially if it’s a private conversation. This “right speech at all times” stuff has to stop. It’s setting an unrealistic standard of behavior, that we must be perfect at all times, even in our private lives.

    I don’t think people need to apologize when they are expressing themselves, as they are free to do, in a very private conversation. Ever.

    • siri says:

      As far as I understand, these were business mails, not private ones. Of course hacking is wrong, but we are talking about business ethics here, not just about private opinions. The question for me would rather be, to what extend the media should make those mails public.