Hollywood Stars Express Outrage over Sony Pulling 'The Interview'

Judd Apatow, Jimmy Kimmel, Rob Lowe, Mia Farrow, Steve Carrell and more blast the studio

Photo: Getty

Many of Hollywood’s biggest stars are expressing their outrage over Sony’s controversial decision on Wednesday to nix The Interview‘s Dec. 25 release date.

Sony Pictures made the announcement after several major theater chains said they would not screen the film in the wake of mounting threats from a terrorist organization calling itself the Guardians of Peace.

Judd Apatow – the Hollywood director and a frequent collaborator with Interview star Seth Rogen – told Southern California’s KPCC radio show The Frame on Wednesday that negotiating with the cyber terrorists who hacked Sony’s computers “trains people to threaten us.”

“We have to be very careful about not presenting movies, because tomorrow someone else can just put in a call. Where does it end?” Apatow said. “It’s the reason why we don’t negotiate with terrorists or kidnappers.”

He added: “Maybe there’ll be a bad Nazi character in the movie, and some Nazi on a computer says, ‘I’m going to do something.’ It could be any evil group. And then do we just shut these things down?”

Apatow isn’t the only public figure concerned over the precedent Sony is setting. Everyone from Mia Farrow to Newt Gingrich took to Twitter, slamming the studio for what Apatow’s friend Jimmy Kimmel called “an act of cowardice.”

Despite near universal condemnation from Hollywood, not everyone believes Sony made the wrong move, given the circumstances. As Bustle.com points out, Twitter reactions from movie fans and the general public mostly fell into three camps:

Those who feel the terrorists won:

Those who sympathize with Sony:

And those even more excited to see the movie:

And while many celebrities have publicly spoken out against Sony’s decision, there are reports of some stars privately standing behind the studio. According to TMZ, “more than 50 showbiz bigwigs – many of whom are celebrities – have contacted [Sony Pictures chief Amy] Pascal and other honchos at Sony voicing support for her.”

But one thing is clear – many in Hollywood are not happy about Sony’s decision. Below, see a collection of Tweets reacting to it.

https://twitter.com/SteveCarell/status/545360994923323392