Reagan Remarks on Sony Raise Ire on Capitol Hill

Sony Corp. got an unexpected boost from former President Ronald Reagan with the wide publication Thursday of his remarks to a Japanese audience defending Sony’s purchase of Columbia Pictures.

Reagan--currently touring Japan as a guest of a major Japanese media conglomerate--said in a taped interview that he was “not too proud of Hollywood these days” because of the immorality and vulgarity in its motion pictures.

“I just have a feeling that maybe Hollywood needs some outsiders to bring back decency and good taste to some of the pictures that are being made,” Reagan was quoted as saying in a number of reports, including a front-page Washington Post story that raised hackles in the nation’s capital.

“Sony May Restore ‘Decency’ to Hollywood, Says Reagan” declared the Post headline, prompting a Senate floor protest by Sen. Richard Bryan (D-Nev.) and a statement from the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance.

“That is an insult to our movie industry and to all Americans. We need no lectures from the Japanese, or former Presidents in their employ, on morals,” declared Bryan, alluding to reports that Reagan may be receiving $2 million from his Japanese host, Fujisankei Communications Group. The same conglomerate owns the broadcast network that aired Reagan’s taped comments to a national Japanese audience.

“The former President’s remarks would be amusing if the issues involving Sony’s purchase of Columbia were not so serious,” said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the subcommittee chairman who has scheduled hearings next month on foreign investment in mass media.

“The real issue is whether foreign ownership of key elements of our motion picture industry poses a risk to the future of our nation’s telecommunications industry,” Markey said.

Lew R. Wasserman, Reagan’s former talent agent and current chairman of MCA Inc., declined to comment Thursday on the former President’s remarks. Wasserman--at 76, the dean of Hollywood with a history of political clout--was reached at an MCA executive retreat and said he had not read newspaper accounts of Reagan’s Japanese broadcast.