--- description: Emails from the Sony hack revealed exec's racist comments about President Barack Obama and actor Kevin Hart title: Shonda Rhimes Slams 'Racist' Leaked Sony Emails image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Shonda Rhimes Slams 'Racist' Leaked Sony Emails  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 12, 2014 2:04 AM CUT  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 12, 2014 2:04 AM CUT Shonda Rhimes, the creator of _Scandal_ and _Grey’s Anatomy_, took to Twitter on Thursday to condemn an email exchange between a Sony Pictures executive and an Oscar-winning producer that was leaked during the recent hack. In the emails, Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal and the producer, Scott Rudin, jokingly posited what President Barack Obama’s favorite movies might be, picking films that featured black characters like _Django Unchained_ and _12 Years a Slave,_ BuzzFeed [reports](http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewzeitlin/scott-rudin-on-obama-i-bet-he-likes-kevin-hart "undefined")_._ The two were said to conclude, “I bet he likes Kevin Hart.” Though many media outlets have called the exchange, for which both Pascal and Rudin have [since apologized](http://time.com/3630485/amy-pascal-scott-rudin-apologize/?xid=newsletter-life-weekly "undefined"), “racially insensitive,” Rhimes argues that the media should use stronger language: > [](https://twitter.com/shondarhimes/status/543164628985860096) Hart surfaced in a second set of leaked emails in which Sony executive Clint Culpepper calls the actor a “whore” for asking for more money to promote _Think Like a Man Too_ on Twitter. Hart replied in a Instagram post: Both email exchanges bolster an argument that comedian Chris Rock made in a recent [op-ed](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/top-five-filmmaker-chris-rock-753223 "undefined") for _The Hollywood Reporter_ that Hollywood is still “a White industry.” The leaked emails were part of a massive hack of confidential Sony documents, film budgets, executive salaries and personal information of stars. A group that calls itself the Guardians of Peace have taken credit for the breach. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3631127/shonda-rhimes-sony-emails/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3631127/shonda-rhimes-sony-emails/"},"headline":"Shonda Rhimes Slams 'Racist' Leaked Sony Emails","datePublished":"2014-12-12T02:04:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:48:04.304Z","description":"Emails from the Sony hack revealed executives' racist comments about President Barack Obama and actor Kevin Hart","url":"https://time.com/3631127/shonda-rhimes-sony-emails/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3631127/shonda-rhimes-sony-emails/","name":"Shonda Rhimes Slams 'Racist' Leaked Sony Emails"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: From California's Pineapple Express to Another Shutdown Drama","description":"Watch this week's #KnowRightNow to catch up on the latest top stories","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yKgf4s2K/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-12T16:19:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yKgf4s2K.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3631127/shonda-rhimes-sony-emails/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3631127/shonda-rhimes-sony-emails/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```