PlayStation CEO reportedly angers Sony staff over abortion rights email

PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has reportedly sent an email to staff acknowledging the leak of a draft US Supreme Court opinion to overturn Roe v Wade, and thus overturn women's right to an abortion.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier caught wind of the email sent by PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan. Apparently, it urged that the staff and players of Sony's product "respect differences of opinion," before — in a bizarre turn — the boss started talking about his cats and desire for a dog.

What did Jim Ryan say about abortion rights?

The Bloomberg report states that the email didn't take a stance either way on the controversial leaked Supreme Court memo that suggests it intends to overturn the decision to allow women the right to an abortion. Instead, Ryan stated that PlayStation's employees are “multi-faceted and diverse, holding many different points of view.”

Ryan allegedly continued, “We owe it to each other and to PlayStation’s millions of users to respect differences of opinion among everyone in our internal and external communities. Respect does not equal agreement. But it is fundamental to who we are as a company and as a valued global brand.”

In a rather odd turn, the leaked email apparently then goes on with Ryan saying he “would like to share something lighthearted to help inspire everyone to be mindful of having a balance that can help ease the stress of uncertain world events." This lighthearted item was, according to the website, about his "two cats’ first birthday and elaborating over the next few paragraphs about his cats’ birthday cakes, their noises, and his desire to one day get a dog."

In messages seen by Bloomberg, employees at "several" PlayStation Studios are reportedly not best pleased. "Some women wrote that they felt their rights were disrespected or trivialised by the message," wrote Schreier. "One employee said they’d 'never been so mad about a cat birthday before.'”

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Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about exclusives like The Last of Us and Horizon, PS Plus news, and his favourite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and God of War — before an evening swim.