Stars Seth Rogen and James Franco Speak Out on Sony Hack: The Media Are Like 'Pawn Shop That's Selling Stolen Wedding Rings

Actors Seth Rogen and James Franco, the stars of “The Interview,” opened up about the recent hacking of Sony Pictures and weighed in on how the media has handled the situation in a sit-down interview on Monday with Gregg “Opie” Hughes and comedian Jim Norton on SiriusXM.

Though the culprit behind the cyber attack has not been confirmed, North Korea is a prime suspect given the plot of “The Interview.” In the movie, which comes out on Christmas Day, Rogen and Franco play celebrity tabloid reporters who are recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. The movie has predictably infuriated the hardline regime.

“They honestly don’t definitively known that North Korea did the hacks, but one way or another, I agree that it’s super f***ed up that people seem very eager to make money off of stolen information, essentially,” Rogen said of the media. “And at the same time are doing exactly what these criminals want them to be f***ing doing. If the criminals could do that themselves, they would. But they can’t, so instead, the Wall Street Journal does it for them.”

(SiriusXM)

Both Opie and Norton agreed that everyone sends messages — texts, emails or otherwise — that are “stupid” and might be embarrassing if they were made public. The hosts suggested it's hypocritical to condemn people over leaked emails that might contain questionable content when many people are guilty of sending similar messages that are never made public.

“We make believe it’s only Sony doing this?” Opie added. “Stop already.”

“Isn’t it scary though? How you say things that you hope are kept private, like the things I text to people. … Everyone is kind of victim of this, and yet we are still allowing it to happen.”

Rogen also said the employees of Sony Pictures are “bummed out” and feel victimized by the hacking. He later likened the media's handling of the "stolen" information to a "pawn shop that’s selling stolen wedding rings," saying that there is no difference between the two.

Listen to the segment via "Opie with Jim Norton" on SiriusXM (WARNING: Very strong language):

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