Stars hit out at Sony decision to pull film

Hollywood stars and political leaders have angrily described the decision to pull a film about the assassination of the North Korean leader as a defeat for free speech.

US investigators have said North Korea is behind the cyber attacks on Sony Pictures which led The Interview to be shelved.

Starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, it was due to be released in the US on Christmas Day and come to Europe in February.

But hackers calling themselves Guardians of Peace threatened to launch attacks like the September 11 atrocities on cinemas that showed the film.

Sony Pictures said it was pulling the movie “in light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film”.

Some of Hollywood’s best known faces took to Twitter to oppose the decision — with Ben Stiller branding it “a threat to freedom of expression”.

Rob Lowe, who starred in the West Wing, said: “Wow. Everyone caved. The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow.”

He compared the decision to pull the film to the former British prime minister Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement with Adolf Hitler. He tweeted: “Saw @Sethrogen at JFK. Both of us have never seen or heard of anything like this. Hollywood has done Neville Chamberlain proud today.”

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel branded the move an “un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent”.

Oscar-wining screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who has already attacked the media for spreading information leaked by the hackers, said: “Today the US succumbed to an unprecedented attack on our most cherished, bedrock principle of free speech.”

US president Barack Obama described the cyber attack as “very serious”, adding: “We’ll be vigilant. If we see something that we think is serious and credible then we’ll alert the public.

“But for now, my recommendation would be that people go to the movies.”

Former US speaker of the house of representatives Newt Gingrich described the hack as an “act of war” by terrorists and “almost certainly the North Korean dictatorship”.

He said: “Sony should release The Interview online for free so North Koreans can’t censor American creativity... No one should kid themselves. With the Sony collapse America has lost its first cyberwar. This is a very very dangerous precedent.”

The attack was possibly the costliest yet for a US company, said Avivah Litan, a cyber-security analyst at research firm Gartner. “This attack went to the heart and core of Sony’s business — and succeeded,” she said.

“We haven’t seen any attack like this in the annals of US breach history.”