Actress-turned-TV host Whoopi Goldberg has slammed the activists behind Sony Pictures' hack attack for threatening fans who check out controversial new comedy The Interview, insisting they have taken their cause too far.
Campaigners calling themselves the Guardians of Peace have threatened 9/11-style terrorist attacks on theatres screening the Seth Rogen and James Franco film, about two Americans who set out on a mission to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, unless company bosses heed their demands and pull it from release.
US authorities claim there is "no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theatres within the United States," but the worrying missive has prompted the cancellation of the movie's New York premiere on Thursday, while Rogen and Franco have scrapped all of their promotional appearances.
Goldberg previously admitted the release of details about celebrities' salaries, personal information, whole movies and emails was embarrassing, but she is now blasting the activists for their terroristic threats.
In a segment on her US talk show The View on Wednesday, she said, "For myself, I would say this to the Guardians of Peace: your name went out the window as soon as you did that, and the other thing I want to say is, I think you had Americans with you (support), until you did this..."
"It p**sed me off on a level of what we stand for in America. Seth Rogen and James Franco have a right of freedom of speech to express what they want to express through their art..."
Goldberg adds, "We have the right, that's what America is, we have the right to do this..."