‘Today’ Show Boots Amy Adams – Just Because She Didn’t Want To Discuss Sony Hacking

By Mike Fleming Jr 12/22/2014

UPDATE: Still awaiting word from NBC, but I got a statement on this matter from The Weinstein Company. Here goes: “We firmly stand behind Amy Adams. We’ve been lucky enough to have had her talents grace several of our films. We are certain her fellow actors and directors would all agree, she is nothing but the consummate professional both on and off set. Amy decided to speak up for herself and express her disappointment that Today would feel the need to ask her a question she did not feel comfortable , and rather than respect her opinion or continue the discussion, the reaction was to pull her appearance from the show.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Sony Pictures cyber terror attack has made everybody punchy. Amy Adams is in New York to promote the Tim Burton-directed Big Eyes, and after hosting Saturday Night Live, she stayed to do an interview segment on Today. I’m told that the attempt ended with the show pulling the segment, and left the Big Eyes star feeling sad-eyed by the way she was manhandled. All because she wasn’t comfortable answering questions about a Sony Pictures hack attack that had nothing to do with her.

I’m told that Adams stayed in New York an extra day to do the Today booking, but just before, her team was told she would be asked about the Sony attack. She came to the set, and again a producer told her she would be asked. She replied that she would prefer to avoid the subject, given this was a four-minute interview. But she was told that Today is a news organization — something that was said as they engaged in a segment about dog grooming in which a hound was having its teeth brushed — and she was told no one dictates their interviews. Meanwhile, Today had done a previously taped segment with American Sniper‘s Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood, and didn’t ask them — even though Cooper starred with Adams (both got Oscar noms) in the Sony-distributed American Hustle.

Adams didn’t refuse to answer the question and she didn’t balk, I’m told. Prepared to explain away a scandal she played no role in, Adam was seen live in the orange room, just before she was to be interviewed. But the show bounced her, pulling her segment and completely wasting her time.

Adams doesn’t have a diva rep, but it sounds like the show treated her much the way that Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) did her character Margaret Keane in Big Eyes. Which, she might have gotten to mention had the Today crew been a little nicer, opens Christmas Day through The Weinstein Company. Now they are spinning it to the Daily News that Adams was at fault and behaved like some kind of hellcat, but it sounds to me like it was the Today gang that behaved boorishly. Hard to imagine they would have treated Angelina Jolie that way, but then again her film that goes up against Big Eyes, Unbroken, is backed by Today‘s sister movie company at NBCUniversal.

Awaiting comment from both NBC and the Weinstein Co.