68. Seth Rogen Film, The Interview, Sparks a North Korean Hack Attack and a Hollywood PR Debacle for Sony Pictures' CEO
From Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories by Dusty Weis
April 29, 2026 · 44 min · Season 1 · Episode 68
About this episode
This episode discusses the PR fallout from the hack of Sony Pictures related to the film 'The Interview' and features an interview with CEO Michael Lynton.
In 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment sparked an international diplomatic crisis when it announced its latest comedy, which they called “The Interview.” Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Randall Park as a parodied version of North Korea’s Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-Un, the film features a slapstick plotline where a couple of bumbling journalists are recruited by the CIA to assassinate the reclusive dictator. But when the teaser for the flick hit the internet, the real life hostile foreign power was not amused. North Korea spent the ensuing months issuing threats of violence and terrorist attacks. And then, just a month before the film's scheduled release, the hermit kingdom successfully hacked Sony's computer servers, publishing damaging information for anyone to access on the internet. So in this episode of Lead Balloon, we speak with Michael Lynton, who was the CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment at the time, and ultimately gave the film the green light for production. We discuss the public relations fallout from the hack, how he set about rebuilding the company's reputation, and WHY he even chose to launch that project--a mistake he still feels is the biggest he's made in a…
People in this episode
Host: Dusty Weis
Guest: Michael Lynton
Topics covered
- North Korea
- Sony Pictures
- public relations
- film industry
- cybersecurity
- diplomatic crisis
Keywords
- Sony Pictures
- North Korea hack
- The Interview
- Michael Lynton
- public relations
- film controversy
- diplomatic crisis
- cyber attack
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Books & works: The Interview, From Mistakes to Meaning: Owning Your Past So It Doesn't Own You
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