Celebrities criticize decision to pull ‘The Interview’

Celebrities expressed their outrage at Sony Picture’s decision to cancel plans to release “The Interview” on Christmas Day on Twitter.

The news comes after many major theater owners canceled next week’s screenings of the controversial film, which depicts the assassination of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.

U.S. investigators appeared ready to blame North Korea for the crippling hack attack at Sony Pictures, which saw the leak of internal emails and personal information that escalated to a threat that people should avoid going to theaters where “The Interview” is playing.

When the film was pulled, celebrities vented their disappointment and raised concerns about the precedent it would set for controversial films in the future.

Actor Judd Apatow, a friend of one of the film’s lead actors Seth Rogen, tweeted: “I think it is disgraceful that these theaters are not showing The Interview. Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?

West Wing actor Rob Lowe, who also makes a cameo appearance in the film said: “Wow. Everyone caved. The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow.”

Stand-up comedian Amy Schumer let it all out in expletives: “No bulls*** though, this is seriously f***** and it’s such a sad day for free speech. Frightening.”

Actress Mia Farrow called Sony “a disgrace” and that “the bad guys won”.

Filmmmaker Michael Moore decided to use the opportunity to ask the hackers for a favor.

He tweeted: “Dear Sony Hackers: now that u run Hollywood, I’d also like less romantic comedies, fewer Michael Bay movies and no more Transformers.”

He later added: “Oh, hackers, one more thing - I lost like $180K on [my film] ‘Canadian Bacon.’ Can u do the opposite of what u just did & get it back IN to theaters?”

Meanwhile, Seth Rogen posted a review of the film earlier this week, but neither he nor James Franco addressed the controversy directly on social media.