Former Sony executive Amy Pascal revealed, among other things, at the Women in the World conference in San Francisco, that she did not resign after all, but was fired. According to ibitimes, she said at the conference, “All the women here are doing incredible things. All I did was get fired.”
This revelation isn’t surprising, since Pascal’s emails contained embarrassing comments about celebrities, pay deals and even “jokey” comments that the President’s film preferences were based on race. The emails were hacked allegedly by North Korean cyber terrorists in retaliation for the company’s release of The Interview about an assassination attempt against Kim Jong-Un.
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In an interview with Deadline, Pascal said the scandal had been devastating. “Everyone at this company has been violated and nobody here deserved this, ” she said. “I am mostly disappointed in myself. That is the element of this that has been most painful for me. I don’t want to be defined by these emails, after a 30-year career, ” she said.
Although Pascal maintained that she was “excited” about leaving Sony for new opportunities, and insisted the decision to part ways with the companies was mutual and amicable, before the conference, Pascal had opened up to Tina Brown on Recode about her firing.
At the Women in the World conference, Pascal admitted one of the worst parts of the scandal was the revelation of her emails about President Obama preferring films based on his race; “It was horrible. That was horrible.” Particularly embarrassing at a women’s conference were emails that revealed some female stars, like Jennifer Lawrence, were paid less than male counterparts. However, Pascal didn’t mince words about the rough nature of the business; “I’ve paid (Jennifer Lawrence) a lot more money since then. I promise you. Here’s the problem; I run a business. People want to work for less money, I pay them less money. Women shouldn’t work for less money. They should know what they are worth. Women shouldn’t take less.”
One of the more infamous emails was about Angelina Jolie being a “minimally talented spoiled brat, ” as written by Scott Rudin, but Pascal implied Hollywood celebrities are thick-skinned. She doesn’t think Jolie cares about the bitchy comment, because “We all live in this weird thing called Hollywood. If we were all actually nice, it wouldn’t work.” However, she seemed to contradict herself not too much later by saying, celebrities are “bottomless pits of need.”
Pascal, who is Jewish, is married to Bernard Weinraub, who used to report on the movie ibndustry for The New York Times. They have a son.
