Sony Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai personally approved scenes in "The Interview," the Seth Rogen film that angered North Korea and may have prompted a cyberattack on the company's Hollywood film studio, according to emails made public by the hackers.
In messages to Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal, Hirai gave input and ultimately the go-ahead to an edited scene depicting the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and he asked the studio executive to make sure the filmmakers didn't allow Kim's exploding face to make it into versions released outside the United States.
"I've given this a lot of thought and would like to go ahead with a variation of version 337," Hirai wrote in a Sept. 29 email to Pascal. "It would be much appreciated if you could push them a bit further as you mentioned in your email. Also, please ensure that this does not make it into the international version of the release."
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