Early this month Tim Cook sat down with Stephen Colbert for an interview and called movies made about Steve Jobs "opportunistic." Yesterday, during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin issued a scathing response to Cook, saying "if you've got a factory full of children in China assembling phones for 17 cents an hour you've got a lot of nerve calling someone else opportunistic."


Today, during an interview with E! News, Sorkin walked back his comments, saying that both he and Cook went a little too far.

"You know what, I think that Tim Cook and I probably both went a little too far. And I apologize to Tim Cook. I hope when he sees the movie, he enjoys it as much as I enjoy his products."

Sorkin's Steve Jobs film, which stars Michael Fassbender as Jobs and Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak will be released in New York and Los Angeles on October 9. The film will expand to more theaters on October 16 and open nationwide on October 23. Early reviews of Steve Jobs have called it "thrilling", with Oscar buzz surrounding the film.

The film is based on Walter Isaacson's best-selling biography, which Cook has said does a "tremendous disservice" to the Steve Jobs that he knew. The movie follows Jobs during three product launches, providing a behind-the-scenes look at how Jobs interacted with friends, colleagues and family.

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams Avatar
125 months ago
Tim Cook probably delayed his 6S order.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chirpie Avatar
125 months ago
Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I always take a moment to tell anyone thank you when they walk back themselves in an argument or disagreement. I wish I saw it happen more often rather than watch people get entrenched once they've voiced an initial opinion.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nagromme Avatar
125 months ago
Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I always take a moment to tell anyone thank you when they walk back themselves in an argument or disagreement. I wish I saw it happen more often rather than watch people get entrenched once they've voiced an initial opinion.
Very true. Although what he did was walk back Tim's comment as well as his own, as if they were equivalent. But one comment was a very casual (and reasonable) opinion, about multiple for-profit movies, from someone whose friend died a couple years ago. The other was a quite blatant lie about a matter of factual record, and a very direct and UNreasonable attack against a man (and company) who has in fact done far more than the competition to keep children out of the workforce and get China to treat workers more fairly--while openly and publicly documenting the problems and the progress. And the apology failed to correct that lie, further cementing the damage when many believe it.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jdillings Avatar
125 months ago
Damn, he walked that back quick. I guess he was afraid the Apple faithful wouldn't turn out for the movie as a result of what he said.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
125 months ago
Just waiting for Taylor Swift to chime in on this.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KALLT Avatar
125 months ago
That’s not an apology, that’s an attempt at damage control and a spin to make him look better. He’s still saying that “both went a little too far”, i.e. downplaying the fault in his actions while still discrediting Cook. It makes the apology worthless, but he will be remembered as the one who openly apologised.

Cook was entitled to his opinion and I wholeheartedly agree with him. It would piss me off as well.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iphone 16 display

iPhone 17's Scratch Resistant Anti-Reflective Display Coating Canceled

Monday April 28, 2025 12:48 pm PDT by
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors. Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Reaches Key Milestone Ahead of Mass Production

Monday April 28, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report. iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

20th Anniversary iPhone Likely to Be Made in China Due to 'Extraordinarily Complex' Design

Monday April 28, 2025 4:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
iphone 17 air iphone 16 pro

iPhone 17 Air USB-C Port May Have This Unusual Design Quirk

Wednesday April 30, 2025 3:59 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years. iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack) At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Feature

All iPhone 17 Models Again Rumored to Feature 12GB of RAM

Tuesday April 29, 2025 3:36 am PDT by
All upcoming iPhone 17 models will come equipped with 12GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, according to the Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station. The claim from the Chinese leaker, who has sources within Apple's supply chain, comes a few days after industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all be equipped with 12GB of RAM. ...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Tuesday April 29, 2025 1:30 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...