Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton on Friday forcefully defended his company's decision to cancel the release of The Interview and had some harsh words for President Obama who earlier today said the movie studio 'made a mistake.' In an exclusive interview Friday with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Lynton insisted that 'we have not given in and we have not backed down.' In a controversial move earlier this week, the studio pulled the plug on the release of The Interview after hackers officially linked to North Korea made terrorist threats against theaters showing the comedy. Scroll down for videos Speaking out: Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton on Friday forcefully defended his company's decision to cancel the release of The Interview
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CEO Michael Lynton told CNN's Fareed Zakaria his studio has not backed down in the face of threats over movie release
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Said President Obama, the media and the public don't realize the studio doesn't decide whether a movie would be screened at theaters or not
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Sony do not have interface to directly release The Interview online but is looking for third-party distributors
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President Obama said during Friday's press conference the studio 'made a mistake' when it scrapped the release
The Sony executive added that if given the chance, the studio would have made @placeholder all over again, and that he still would like the public to see the film.