As expected, Amy Pascal, the top film executive at Sony Pictures Entertainment, has chosen to step down from her post after the huge hacking scandal that took the company by surprise and placed it in a terrible light.
We understand that Pascal was in contract renewal talks well before the December scandal. However, the leaked emails appeared to have forced her to step down from the post despite other top executives standing firmly behind her.
It was long known that she would have resigned, but no one knew it would have taken this long. ABC News reports that she will officially step down in May of this year, but her work with Sony Pictures will not end right away.
The plan is for Pascal to accept a four-year production deal that would see her overseeing a list of Sony's most important movies planned for the future. After this four-year deal comes to an end, it is not certain if she would continue her relationship with the company, or move on to greener pastures.
It is, however, clear from this deal that Sony Pictures did not want to get rid of her, but had no choice due to the severity of the hacking scandal. The things she said in those emails will never go away, so it is best for the company if she stepped down.
Michael Lynton, chief executive of Sony Entertainment, will take over from Pascal until a replacement is found. For now, it is not certain if the company wants a new chief that performs the same duty as Pascal, or one that does less. We suspect Sony Pictures might hire a person who does less than Pascal due to all the cost-cutting measures facing the establishment.
Furthermore, Pascal was not forced by the company to leave; neither was she asked to stay. The decision was all hers, but we doubt she could have done anything different in light of her past actions.
The cause of the hacking scandal that ultimately forced Pascal to step down should be placed right at the feet of The Interview. The movie parodies North Korean leader Kim Jon Un and even shows an ending scene where he dies in a helicopter explosion.
This allegedly caused North Korean hackers to act out in revenge. One thing led to another, and now this is where Sony Pictures has found itself.
