Ashton Kutcher (CAA, Untitled, Sloane Offer) is attached to star as Steve Jobs in "Jobs," an independent biopic being produced and financed by Five Star Institute. Joshua Michael Stern ("Swing Vote") is directing.
Ashton Kutcher, appearing on CNBC to promote his turn in the Apple origins biopic Jobs, was asked to wade into the war of words between George Clooney and activist investor Dan Loeb about whether Sony should spin off its entertainment division.
“Well, I think there’s a little bit of naivety on both sides,” Kutcher said on Tuesday. “The assumption that you can just walk into an artistic business and understand how that works or how the artistic process works, [there’s a] little bit of naivety on that side. On the other side, having been in the entertainment business for a long time, you know, some of these companies are extremely bloated. And they do spend money on relationships.”
STORY: Activist Investor Dan Loeb Makes Appearance on Sony Earnings Call
Clooney and Loeb have been exchanging salvos in published reports over whether the entertainment business at Sony should be spun off in light of recent box office disappointments this summer.
When queried by CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, Kutcher didn’t take a side with either the investor or actor in the dispute: “So I wouldn’t necessarily say that George Clooney or whoever is speaking on behalf of the studios is necessarily 100 percent right. … Now, that being said, Dan Loeb is responsible to a company and is responsible to the efficiencies of the company.”
