Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal apologized on Thursday for “insensitive” jokes she made about President Obama in emails that were stolen by hackers who recently attacked the studio’s computer network.
The emails were exchanged between Pascal and producer Scott Rudin, according to a report on the BuzzFeed website. Ahead of a breakfast event with the president, the pair joked about the type of movies that Obama might like, mentioning films with African-American themes or stars.
“Should I ask him if he liked Django?” Pascal wrote, referring to slave revenge tale “Django Unchained.” She later suggests “The Butler” or “Think Like a Man,” the report said.
Reuters could not verify the accuracy of the emails.
In a statement on Thursday, Pascal acknowledged the existence of the emails, but didn’t confirm details.
“The content of my emails to Scott were insensitive and inappropriate but are not an accurate reflection of who I am,” Pascal said in a statement.
“Although this was a private communication that was stolen, I accept full responsibility for what I wrote and apologize to everyone who was offended,” she said.
Rudin also apologized, saying the emails were “written in haste” and “meant to be in jest.”
“To anybody I’ve offended, I’m profoundly and deeply sorry, and I regret and apologize for any injury they might have caused,” he said in a statement.
Sony Pictures, a unit of Japan’s Sony Corp (SNE), was the target of a massive cyber attack that became public on Nov. 24 by unidentified hackers who released a trove of internal company data and emails. Sony has acknowledged that a large amount of data was stolen, but has declined to confirm specific documents.