Dennis Rodman, who has famously referred to North Korea’s Kim Jong-un as his lifelong friend, expressed incredulity at the idea of the regime hacking Sony Pictures.
The former NBA great told The Hollywood Reporter: “If the North wanted to hack anything in the world, anything in the world, really, they are going to go hack a movie? Really?”
The FBI, meanwhile, finds otherwise, ruling that Pyongyang was responsible for the cyberattack that exposed Sony’s internal memos and emails of top-ranking executives — and caused them much embarrassment with their colleagues. Federal authorities say North Korea hacked the company because of “The Interview,” a comedy that contains a scene of the assassination of Mr. Kim.
But Mr. Rodman — who recently went to North Korea to play in an exhibition game for Mr. Kim, during which he also crooned a basketball court side “Happy Birthday” to the regime chief — finds that FBI assessment ridiculous.
“How many movies have there been attacking North Korea? And they never hacked those,” he said, The Hill reported. “North Korea is going to hack a comedy — a movie that is really nothing? I can’t see that happening.”
He also called “The Interview” a subpar movie, unworthy of watching.
“They’re doing a movie about North Korea, and it’s a comedy,” he said, The Hill reported. “And I went cool, cool, cool. The next thing you know, I’m seeing some of the pieces, and he wants to go kill this guy? That ain’t funny. That is not funny.”
Mr. Rodman is in the midst of promoting his own film, “Dennis Rodman’s “Big Bang in Pyongyang,” about his basketball-playing experience in the country.
And of that, he said: “This is the real North Korea. This is the real movie,” The Hill reported.
Mr. Rodman’s views of Mr. Kim — as a lifelong and “very good” friend — have been widely reported over the last few months.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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