Film studio heads say they never saw George Clooney's petition supporting embattled Sony ...after star publicly berated them for refusing to sign

• George Clooney claims he circulated a petition to support Sony and the film 'The Interview'
• He said Hollywood stars and studios were afraid of possible retribution
• Industry executives from at least five studios are now saying these never saw Clooney's petition and would likely have supported it 

The heads of Hollywood's biggest film studios are pushing back against George Clooney after he publicly berated them for not signing his petition supporting embattled Sony Pictures. 

Reps for five companies said they never got a chance to sign Clooney's statement because they never got it, according to the Hollywood Reporter 

Last week, the activist star blasted Hollywood's elite after he claimed they all refused to publicly back Sony Pictures for fear they, too, could be attacked by hackers and have their dirty laundry aired in public.  

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George Clooney, pictured, said the hackers were clever by releasing embarrassing emails between senior Sony executives because this sent a chill throughout the rest of the industry who are afraid of being attacked 

'It was sent to basically the heads of every place. They told (Clooney's agent) Bryan Lourd, ‘I can't sign this.' What? How can you not sign this? I'm not going to name anyone, that's not what I'm here to do, but nobody signed the letter,' he told Deadline. 

The Hollywood Reporter says it contacted Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate - as well as two other talent agencies - and all of them said they had never seen the Clooney's Sony petition. 

One executive told the publication: I never heard of it until I saw press about a petition not getting signed. No one I know has heard of it. 

'We were just discussing that, of course, we would've signed it, but we had never heard of it, and these were a lot of high-level industry people.' 

Clooney responded to the Hollywood Reporter's findings by insisting that industry representatives had seen the petitions. 

Sony's computer systems were breached following a major hacking attack last month, which saw highly confidential material released, along with a string of embarrassing emails. 

The hackers, who US authorities say were working on behalf of North Korea, demanded that the studio pull 'The Interview' - a comedy film that depicts the assassination and violent death of leader Kim Jong-un. 

Clooney said he did not wish to be told what he could not watch by Kim Jong-un, pictured

Speaking to Hollywood showbiz magazine Deadline, Clooney said the hackers had released the embarrassing emails to undermine any possible support for Sony through the rest of the industry. 

The 53-year-old described the tactic as 'brilliant', because the hackers humiliated Sony, which subsequently prevented anyone from standing up to defend them.

He said: 'After the Obama joke, no one was going to get on the side of Amy, [Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures co-chair] and so suddenly, everyone ran for the hills. Look, I can't make an excuse for that joke, it is what it is, a terrible mistake. Having said that, it was used as a weapon of fear, not only for everyone to disassociate themselves from Amy but also to feel the fear themselves. They know what they themselves have written in their emails, and they're afraid.'

Clooney said he approached a large number of important people to sign his petition but kept getting rebuffed. He said that people are afraid of potential retribution. 

'This is just where we are right now, how scared this industry has been made,' he told the magazine. 

'Quite honestly, this would happen in any industry. I don't know what the answer is, but what happened here is part of a much larger deal. A huge deal. 

'And people are still talking about dumb emails. Understand what is going on right now, because the world just changed on your watch, and you weren't even paying attention.'

Crucially, Clooney said that, although North Korea is being held up as the reason for the movie being pulled, the reality is different.

Canned: Sony decided not to release The Interview - in which an ailing talk show host (Franco) and his producer (Rogen) land an interview with Kim Jon-un - after all major theaters decided they wouldn't play it. The theaters were reportedly under pressure from malls who feared they would be terror targets

'Sony didn't pull the movie because they were scared; they pulled the movie because all the theaters said they were not going to run it,' he told Deadline.

'And they said they were not going to run it because they talked to their lawyers and those lawyers said if somebody dies in one of these, then you're going to be responsible.'

'[The Interview] is a silly comedy, but the truth is, what it now says about us is a whole lot.

'We have a responsibility to stand up against this.'

White House: Cyber attacks 'serious national security matter'

Clooney said that Sony should release the movie online to prove a point to North Korea and anyone else who wishes to threaten free speech. 

'I just talked to Amy (Pascal, Sony Pictures co-chair) an hour ago. She wants to put that movie out. What do I do? My partner Grant Heslov and I had the conversation with her this morning. ... Stick it online,' he said.

'Do whatever you can to get this movie out. Not because everybody has to see the movie, but because I'm not going to be told we can't see the movie. That's the most important part. 

'We cannot be told we can't see something by Kim Jong-un, of all f****** people.'

As for his motivation in standing up against the cyberhack and its aftershock, Clooney said he is trying to protect his own artistic freedoms, as well as those of his peers.

'Frankly, I'm at an age where I'm not doing action films or romantic comedies,' he told Deadline.

'The movies we make are the ones with challenging content, and I don't want to see it all just be superhero movies. 

'Nothing wrong with them, but it's nice for people to have other films out there.'

Workers removed a massive poster publicising The Interview in Hollywood after its release was cancelled

Fox has already pulled out of an unnamed thriller set in North Korea - that was to star Steve Carrell - as a result of the current hacking scandal. 

A number of cinemas that planned to show a controversial 2004 movie, Team America: World Police, instead of The Interview have now been forced to cancel the screenings.

Team America, from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, features Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong Il, as a singing marionette. 

At the end of the film, the leader's head explodes.

Cleveland's Capitol Theatre said its long-planned Team America screening was canceled Thursday by Paramount Pictures, the studio that released the film. 

Paramount have declined to comment.

Controversial: A handful of theaters across the U.S. have cancelled screenings of Team America - the 2004 puppet comedy that parodies former North Korea leader Kim Jong Il - they planned to run in place of The Interview

SEAN PENN WEIGHS IN  

 The actor emailed Mother Jones and said:

'This week, the distributors who wouldn't show The Interview and Sony have sent ISIS a commanding invitation. 

I believe ISIS will accept the invitation. Pandora's box is officially open.

The damage we do to ourselves typically outweighs the harm caused by outside threats or actions. 

Then by caving to the outside threat, we make our nightmares real. 

The decision to pull The Interview is historic. It's a case of putting short term interests ahead of the long term.

If we don't get the world on board to see that this is a game changer, if this hacking doesn't frighten the Chinese and the Russians, we're in for a very different world, a very different country, community, and a very different culture.

I'm not sure the world has come to terms with all the implications of the hacking.

I was in Liberia and Sierra Leone right at the beginning of the Ebola outbreak in April.

It did seem to those of us there that the response was neither coming swiftly or with a true sense of urgency.

This feels the same. This matter should be before the UN Security Council today.'

Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin criticized the reaction to the Sony situation: 'Today the U.S. succumbed to an unprecedented attack on our most cherished, bedrock principle of free speech by a group of North Korean terrorists who threatened to kill moviegoers in order to stop the release of a movie.'

The White House has described the cyber attack on Sony Pictures as a serious matter of national security.   

White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to confirm reports that North Korea had attacked the movie giant, which pulled the film after hackers invoked September 11, 2001 in threatening attacks on cinemas.

But, in a sign US intelligence believes the attack came from an enemy of the United States, he said: 'The president considers this to be a serious national security matter.'

He continued: 'There has been destructive activity with malicious intent, and the administration believes that that activity merits an appropriate response from the United States.'

Bruce Bennett, senior defence analyst with the RAND corporation believes action against the hackers is necessary. 

He said: 'A weak response will only embolden North Korea and lead to more serious attacks, even if it is not proven to be the culprit.'

North Korea has denied involvement in the brazen November 24 cyber attack, which experts say could have been carried out by disgruntled Sony workers or by supporters of a foreign power. 

Former presidential nominee Senator John McCain criticised Sony for backing down, a few days after the so-called Guardians of Peace hacker group threatened cinema-goers.

He said: 'By effectively yielding to aggressive acts of cyber-terrorism by North Korea, that decision sets a troubling precedent that will only empower and embolden bad actors to use cyber as an offensive weapon even more aggressively in the future.' 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said this week's events should sound alarm bells. 'With the Sony collapse America has lost its first cyberwar. This is a very very dangerous precedent.'

Criticized: Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (right) attacked the threats on moviegoers. He is pictured here with embattled Sony boss Amy Pascal, one of the worst-effected from the email hacks

GEORGE CLOONEY'S PETITION TO SUPPORT 'THE INTERVIEW' MOVIE

On November 24 of this year, Sony Pictures was notified that it was the victim of a cyber attack, the effects of which is the most chilling and devastating of any cyber attack in the history of our country. 

Personal information including Social Security numbers, email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers and the full texts of emails of tens of thousands of Sony employees was leaked online in an effort to scare and terrorize these workers. 

The hackers have made both demands and threats. They demand that Sony halt the release of its upcoming comedy The Interview, a satirical film about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Their threats vary from personal—you better behave wisely—to threatening physical harm—not only you but your family is in danger. 

North Korea has not claimed credit for the attack but has praised the act, calling it a righteous deed and promising merciless measures if the film is released. 

Meanwhile the hackers insist in their statement that what they've done so far is only a small part of our further plan. 

This is not just an attack on Sony. It involves every studio, every network, every business and every individual in this country. That is why we fully support Sony's decision not to submit to these hackers' demands. 

We know that to give in to these criminals now will open the door for any group that would threaten freedom of expression, privacy and personal liberty. We hope these hackers are brought to justice but until they are, we will not stand in fear. We will stand together.