And we thought “Al Sharpton, White House Ferguson Liaison” sounded ridiculous.
In a private meeting with Rev. Al Sharpton at the Greenwich Hotel in New York City Thursday, Sony Pictures chair Amy Pascal told Sharpton that he could have a voice in how the movie studio makes its films, as reports the New York Post.
Sharpton agreed to the meeting with the studio head after hackers released e-mails showing that Pascal, a major Democratic donor, made racial jokes about President Obama.
“We have agreed to having a working group deal with the racial bias and lack of diversity in Hollywood,” explained Sharpton following the meeting, which was also attended by Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban League.
The “working group” to advise Sony will include Sharpton’s National Action Network in addition to the National Urban League, the NAACP and the Black Women’s Round Table. Sharpton did not actually offer any details about the planned relationship with Sony.
And, though he emphasized the need for “something concrete” to be done, Sharpton did not immediately call for Pascal’s resignation following the leaked e-mails.
“The jury is still out on where we go with Amy,” said Sharpton. “We clearly are willing to deal with an immediate formula to see where we deal with breaking down the walls of inflexible and so far immovable racial exclusion in Hollywood.”
Sharpton also labeled the cyberattacks that led Sony to pull “The Interview” a form of “bullying.”
“We are outraged by the bullying that is being done right before Christmas around this hacking,” he declared.
Sony Pictures made the decision earlier this week to pull the film from its Christmas Day release date after multiple top theater circuits in the U.S. announced that they would not show the film amid terror threats.
The group behind the hacking and threats is believed to be working with the government of North Korea.
