Ex-Sony film boss admits firing after hack humiliation
Amy Pascal has buried the hatchet with Angelina Jolie — and it wasn’t in her back.
The ousted Sony Pictures boss, who showed her disdain for Jolie and other stars in embarrassing leaked e-mails, said she and the superstar are on good terms.
“Angie didn’t care,” Pascal told former Daily Beast Editor Tina Brown at the Women in the World Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.
Producer Scott Rudin called Jolie a “minimally talented spoiled brat” in one exchange with Pascal that was exposed by hackers.
Just days later, Pascal was snapped in an awkward embrace with Jolie giving her a death stare.
“Everybody understood because we all live in this weird thing called Hollywood,” Pascal told Brown, according to the blog Re/code. “If we all actually were nice, it wouldn’t work.”
Pascal also made nice with another starlet — Jennifer Lawrence — after e-mails revealed that she was paid less than her male co-stars for “American Hustle.”
“I’ve paid [Lawrence] a lot more money since then, I promise you,” said Pascal. before putting some of the onus on women in Hollywood.
“The truth is, what women have to do is not work for less money. They have to walk away. People shouldn’t be so grateful for jobs. … People should know what they’re worth and say no.”
During the interview, Pascal couldn’t resist getting in another dig at celebrities.
“They’re bottomless pits of need,” she said on stage. “You’ve never seen anything like it.”
Pascal also recounted the moment she learned the hackers had gained access to e-mails and other sensitive corporate documents in November.
“I kept calling [IT] and being like, ‘They don’t have our e-mails, tell me they don’t have our e-mails,’” she said. “But then they did. That was a bad moment. And you know what you write in e-mails.”
Pascal, who is stepping down as co-chair of Sony Pictures in May, contradicted earlier reports that her departure was a mutual decision.
“All the women here are doing incredible things in this world,” Pascal said. “All I did was get fired.”