Hollywood PR claimed Oscar judges didn't want to give 12 Years A Slave Best Picture Award

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Peggy Siegal said panel did not want British director Steve McQueen to win
Her allegations were revealed in hacked emails from Sony
She said they believed it would paint their country in a bad light
The group were also concerned because of the film's dark message

Published: 19:17 EST, 16 April 2015 | Updated: 03:29 EST, 17 April 2015

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One of Hollywood’s most respected PRs claimed that the Oscars judges did not want to give 12 Years A Slave the Best Picture Award because it was not patriotic enough to America.

According to hacked Sony emails, Peggy Siegal said that the voting panel objected to having a British director paint their country in a bad light.

She said that Steve McQueen would not win as the Academy did not want such a dark message about the US to be ‘sent around the world’.

The emails also reveal that a Hollywood blockbuster of Dr Who is in the works - but not for a few years.

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Controversial: A hacked Sony email revealed respected Hollywood PR Peggy Siegal believed the Oscar voting panel did not want 12 Years A Slave to win because it was not patriotic enough towards America and were concerned a victory for British director Steve McQueen (right) would paint the US in a bad light

The details were included in a database of 30,287 documents and 173,132 emails that was uploaded to the WikiLeaks website after hackers stole them from Sony Pictures Entertainment, the company’s movie division, last November.

The database is the first time the information has been made available in one place in a searchable format.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said that the documents ‘show the inner workings of an influential multinational corporation’ and should be in the public domain.

But Sony reacted with fury and a spokesman said that the company wanted to ‘strongly condemn’ Assange’s actions.

The email from Siegal, who has been called the most powerful PR on the East coast of America, was sent to former Sony Pictures Entertainment chair Amy Pascal in October 2013.

Global perception She wrote in the email: 'This film is made by a Brit that exposes the darkest "hidden history" of America, exposing a cruel and brutal segment of our white society.' She added the plantation owners are as 'terrible as the Nazis'

She wrote: ‘The Academy consists of approximately 6,000 white 60-year-old men who are educated, experienced filmmakers who take their voting power seriously.

‘They are all fiercely patriotic and very aware of our day by day international standing politically and culturally.

‘This film is made by a Brit that exposes the darkest "hidden history" of America, exposing a cruel and brutal segment of our white society. These plantation owners are as terrible as the Nazis, who are the only "acceptable" cinematic villains.

‘As powerful as Brad Pitt is as a producer/spokesman, he will not over expose himself in the states.’

She added that the Academy’s experience of watching the film was ‘not pleasant’ and that some might fast forward or turn it off because of the violence.

She wrote: ‘Many others who have seen it tout the brilliant filmmaking but are a bit embarrassed by the story and more importantly did not "enjoy" watching it.

‘My point is.... is this the story American cultural bell ringers want to send around the world as the "best story" in the best picture?’

Two members of the voting panel later admitted to not watching 12 Years A Slave, giving some credence to the claims.

But in another twist, by January last year Siegal had changed her tune and organised a lunch for the film, photos of which are still on her website.

She was also wrong about the film and 12 Years A Slave did win the Best Picture Oscar.

The tranche of emails were stolen last year by group calling itself Guardians of Peace, though it later emerged that it was the work of North Korea in response to the release of the Sony film: ‘The Interview’, a parody about the secretive communist nation.

When North Korea threatened to carry out further attacks at screenings Sony cancelled the opening but changed its mind after pressure from the White House.

Official trailer for 12 Years A Slave

She said that McQueen would not win as the Academy did not want such a dark message about the US to be ‘sent around the world’. The details were included in a database of 30,287 documents and 173,132 emails that was uploaded to the WikiLeaks website after hackers stole them from Sony Pictures Entertainment

The film eventually came out on limited release in December and on the Internet at the same time.

But by then the damage to Sony’s reputation was already done.

Among the new revelations is that there will be a Hollywood movie of Dr Who - but not for a few years.

An email sent in January last year from Andrea Wong, president of International Production for Sony, to the company’s chief executive Michael Lynton explains the plans.

Wong writes that she has spoken to Danny Cohen, the Director of BBC Television and that negotiations are underway.

This film is made by a Brit that exposes the darkest 'hidden history' of America, exposing a cruel and brutal segment of our white society. These plantation owners are as terrible as the Nazis, who are the only 'acceptable' cinematic villains

Peggy Siegal in hacked Sony email

The email says: ‘He said that while there has been tremendous interest (and pressure from BBCWW) (BBC Worldwide) to do a Dr Who film, the show runners feel very clear that they don’t want to do one at this moment.

‘That said, over the course of the coming months, the show running team is coming up with an 8 year timeline for the brand – laying out all that will happen with it.

‘He says that a film will certainly be a part of that timeline.

‘So the answer is that a film won’t happen in the next year to 18 months, but it is expected that it will happen after that within the 8 year horizon.’

Pascal has already been fired by Sony and is due to formally leave the company next month to set up her own production company.

She has apologised over the affair and in a statement said that the emails were ‘insensitive and inappropriate but are not an accurate reflection of who I am’.

Among the revelations previously made public was that Pascal called Leonardo DiCaprio ‘despicable’ after he refused to star in a Steve Jobs biopic.

Renowned Hollywood producer Scott Rudin complained about Angelina Jolie’s ‘insanity and rampaging ego’ and called her a ‘minimally talented spoiled brat’.

There were also racially insensitive emails between Pascal and Rudin joking that President Obama’s favorite films are black-themed movies like Django Unchained and 12 Years a Slave.

Amy Pascal steps down as co-chair of Sony Pictures (archive)

Victorious: The film went on to win the award in 2014. The cast is pictured behind McQueen as he makes his speech

Discussing an upcoming fundraiser for the president, Rudin wrote: “Would he like to finance some movies?’

Pascal wrote back: ‘I doubt it. Should I ask him if he liked DJANGO?’

It also emerged that Jennifer Lawrence got paid less than her male co-stars in American Hustle.

An early script for the forthcoming James Bond film was made public too along with celebrities’ personal information including Social Security numbers.

The Sony statement said: ‘The cyber-attack on Sony Pictures was a malicious criminal act, and we strongly condemn the indexing of stolen employee and other private and privileged information on WikiLeaks.

‘The attackers used the dissemination of stolen information to try to harm Sony Pictures Entertainment and its employees, and now WikiLeaks regrettably is assisting them in that effort.

‘We vehemently disagree with WikiLeaks’ assertion that this material belongs in the public domain and will continue to fight for the safety, security, and privacy of our company and its more than 6,000 employees’.