The Sony Hacking Scandal just took a dark and disturbing turn. The responsible parties officially released a message this morning, promising 9/11 style attacks on any movie theaters that show the upcoming Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy The Interview.
The threatening message came following an earlier promise of a Christmas Present. At the time, most assumed the present would be additional pieces of compromised data including but not limited to emails, scripts and personal information, but obviously, this took a much more serious turn.
You can read the entirety of the warning below, courtesy of Variety…
WarningWe will clearly show it to you at the very time and places "The Interview" be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to. Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.) Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment. All the world will denounce the SONY.More to come…
There is a big difference between releasing private information in the Internet and causing physical harm to people in a terrorist-type attack. Regardless, I’m sure the fine people over at the FBI and CIA are taking the matter very seriously. Any kind of threat is sure to attract plenty of attention. One that invokes 9/11, however, will no doubt send off alarm bells in the highest corners of the Federal Government.
Thus far, the hack has been a public relations nightmare for Sony. The James Bond script was leaked. A mountain of sensitive and hilarious emails were made public, and secretive casting scenarios emerged. Perhaps even more troubling, negatives statements made by some of the company’s own employees trashed longtime stars. Now there are talks of lawsuits and widespread fallout. It’s a mess, but all of this will pale in comparison to any kind of physical harm if the hackers follow through on their threats.
Most of us who don’t work for Sony have had some good laughs at the expense of employees. We’ve read through some of the more shocking emails, and we’ve chuckled at some of the more outlandish schemes that company has batted around. Should we have? Probably not. But we can’t help ourselves. This, however, is something entirely different. The above message is downright scary, and our thoughts go out to everyone at Sony.
The Interview follows Seth Rogen and James Franco as hapless reporters who are tasked with murdering North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It is scheduled to be released on Christmas Day.
