Sony Pictures Co-Chair Amy Pascal to Step Down in Wake of Hacking Scandal

Amy Pascal, the embattled co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment, is stepping down from her post in the wake of the Sony hack, Varietyreports.

Pascal, whose contract is up in March, will stay in her current position through May, at which point she'll take a different position at Sony under a new four-year producing contract. The studio is funding her production company and will retain rights for any film she makes, according to Variety.

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"I have spent almost my entire professional life at Sony Pictures and I am energized to be starting this new chapter based at the company I call home," she said in a statement. "I have always wanted to be a producer."

Pascal was among the Sony executives whose email accounts were hacked in November; as a result, messages were leaked in which she made disparaging comments about people including Angelina Jolie and President Obama.