Hollywood and Washington must toughen up and refuse to give into North Korea's ongoing threats to wreak havoc over the controversial Seth Rogan comedy, "The Interview," veteran movie critic Kyle Smith says.
"I would like to see more of a backbone from the Motion Picture Association [of America], from Sony, from the theater owners saying we will not allow this to stand, we will not allow North Korean tin pot dictators to push us around, we're going to show whatever movies we want to show," Smith said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
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"And I want the president of the United States to get up there and say the exact same thing. Look, the president should have said, I will make sure that you, the theater owners, are indemnified against any terrorist-related activities that occur with respect to this movie. There's no way Americans can allow this to stand."
Smith's comments came after Sony's decision to yank the Christmas Day opening of the lowball comedy which depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and reportedly has him participating in an orgy.
"It's clear that we're taking orders from Pyongyang and the fat boy who runs North Korea," said Smith, who writes for the New York Post.
Smith is also appalled at Paramount's decision to keep some theater owners from substituting "The Interview" with its 10-year-old comedy, "Team America: World Police," in which Kim's dad and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, transforms into a cockroach.
"Paramount Pictures didn't even suffer any threats. Paramount Pictures yanked a few screenings of 'Team America' from four small theaters nationwide and said these theaters, no, do not show this 10-year-old movie that's already been shown to millions of Americans. That's ridiculous," he said.
"The KKK could say … 'Oh, no, one can see 'Django Unchained' anymore because it's offensive to us. I mean, where does this end?"
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