A former executive at Sony Entertainment has openly condemned his own role in greenlighting a controversial film that became the target of a sophisticated cyberattack by North Korea, calling his subsequent self-criticism “an orgy of self-blame” deemed “pathetic” by readers.
Michael Lynton, who served as Sony’s former CEO, writes in his upcoming book From Mistakes to Meaning: Owning Your Past So It Doesn’t Own You that he never truly blamed North Korea after the 2014 hacking incident—partially attributing his decision to approve The Interview, a film featuring Seth Rogen and James Franco, to his childhood struggles. Lynton describes how, at age nine, moving from Scarsdale, New York, to Wassenaar, Holland, left him without language skills or social acceptance: “I never got invited to parties.” He claims this formative experience influenced his later choice to greenlight a movie depicting journalists recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Lynton recounts privately discussing the film’s release with then-President Barack Obama, who questioned his judgment: “What were you thinking when you made killing the leader of a hostile foreign nation a plot point?” Lynton states Obama acknowledged the error but did not publicly criticize Sony’s decision at the time.
The incident unfolded after North Korean hackers infiltrated Sony’s systems in 2014, leaking thousands of private emails—including Lynton’s—alongside employee Social Security numbers, salaries, and unreleased films. The film was eventually released globally via streaming platforms following threats of physical violence against theaters that screened it.
Readers of the book excerpt swiftly criticized Lynton’s introspection. One commenter labeled his self-blame “pathetic,” noting, “No one could have anticipated that North Korea could have hacked the information they did.” Another quipped: “The lesson you learned was to self-censor against a brutally repressive regime? Truly a profile in courage.”
Lynton has yet to respond to requests for comment on the book’s content. His coauthor, Joshua L. Steiner—a former Clinton administration official—adds context about their shared reflections on past mistakes, though the excerpt focuses exclusively on Lynton’s experience with The Interview.