If you’re anything like me, there are some things communicated via text, email, chat that you would much rather keep private. Come to think of it, it’d be weirder not to desire this layer, however thin,of privacy. However, major Hol­lywood studio Sony Pictures Entertain­ment was recently infiltrated by a group of hackers who allegedly stole a number of confidential documents. In addition, many leaked films were uploaded to file sharing sites. Sony Pictures was not the only victim, as through the reveal of multiple emails, what were supposed to be private conversations were made public. Of these many embarrassing ex­changes that were scrutinized, the most talked about has been the interaction between two executives in a conversation about Obama.

“What should I ask the presi­dent at this stupid Jeffrey break­fast?” Pascal wrote.

“Would he like to finance some movies?” Rudin responded.

“I doubt it. Should I ask him if he liked DJANGO?” Pascal wrote.

Rudin replied, “12 YEARS,” before Pascal and he suggested other films created by and star­ring African Americans, “Or the butler. Or think like a man?”

“Ride-along. I bet he likes Kevin Hart,” Rudin wrote.

The two executives apologized for the racially charged messages, and although I personally found them innocuous and inoffensive, one must also keep in mind that I am an immature, sophomoric junior in highschool. Many others, how­ever, did not find these emails as light­hearted as the Sony executives and I did. Keep in mind, this is only the surface of the whole ordeal as there were a plethora of other private conversations made pub­lic, including but not limited to scathing criticisms of the company’s own stars.

On a more serious note, many ques­tions remain unanswered. The “who” and they “why” are up for speculation. Yet it remains clear that our digital in­formation is never really private, and that stardom ultimately has a price. The lack of privacy and the leak of such sensi­tively personal topics bring up questions regarding journalistic ethics and whether or not these leaks should be reported or ignored.