Amy Pascal to Step Down as Head of Sony Pictures

Following a difficult year in which Sony Pictures was hacked and troves of private — and often damaging — emails were released to the public, Amy Pascal will reportedly step down from her role as co-chair of the major movie studio, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Thursday.

Pascal was named co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2006 and helped lead the company along with Chairman and CEO Michael Lynton for the past decade, overseeing such hits as the Spider-Man and James Bond franchises.

Troves of Pascal’s private emails with actors, directors, producers and other Hollywood professionals were released after a major hacking incident last fall that may have been committed by a North Korean-aligned group upset over the studio’s Kim Jong-un assassination satire The Interview.

The email that likely caused the biggest problems for Pascal was an exchange between her and producer Scott Rudin in which they made racially-charged jokes about President Barack Obama’s movie preferences. She later apologized for the “insensitive” comments and met with Reverend Al Sharpton in an attempt to repair her relationship with the African-American community.

As part of her exit plan as studio head, Pascal will launch as new production venture within Sony Pictures. “I have spent almost my entire professional life at Sony Pictures and I am energized to be starting this new chapter based at the company I call home,” she said in a statement.

Sony has not yet made any announcement regarding Pascal’s replacement.

[Photo via Sony]

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