Aaron Sorkin Addresses Tim Cook Controversy Over 'Steve Jobs': We 'Both Went Too Far'

The screenwriter also says he thinks the Apple CEO will 'enjoy' the biopic.

The Steve Jobs biopic may already be earning Oscar buzz -- even though it doesn't even come out until Oct. 9 -- but not everyone is happy about it, with Apple CEO Tim Cook calling the film “opportunistic” during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

In response, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin lashed out at Cook. "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," he told The Hollywood Reporter.


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Universal Pictures

Now, Sorkin is apologizing, telling ET with a laugh, “After a night sleep, I think Tim Cook and I both went too far.”

“I apologize to him and I hope when he sees the movie he enjoys it as much as I enjoy his products,” he continued. “This wasn't opportunistic, and I know none of us signed onto this movie to get rich.”

Sorkin adapted the movie, which stars Michael Fassbender as the late Apple visionary and is directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle, from Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography. Isaacson, at Jobs’ request, conducted more than 40 interviews with his subject, as well as with over 100 friends, colleagues, and adversaries, with Jobs evidently encouraging people to speak honestly about him.


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“I can certainly understand if you're someone who is close to Steve Jobs, as Tim Cook is, and if you miss him and love him that you might be concerned about this movie,” Sorkin went on to say.

“He needn't be, I think he'll enjoy it,” he told us. Still, he adds, “I went too far and I apologize.”