Opinions of cats, dogs and abortion

An internal email from PlayStation president Jim Ryan contains several paragraphs about cats, but does not contain a hardline stance in support of their employees’ reproductive rights, and even asks employees to “respect” anti-abortion views and opinions, leaving many PlayStation employees angry and upset.

As I mentioned Bloomberg earlier today It is independently verified by Kotakuan email from PlayStation President Jim Ryan addressing the recently leaked Supreme Court draft Referring to the fact that the court will eliminate the case of Roe v. Wade Dulcer It went to PlayStation employees on Thursday, May 12. If the court indeed overturns this landmark case, it would allow states to begin banning abortions of all kinds across the United States, making it more difficult than ever for people seeking abortions to get the care they need and deserve. However, as he opens Ryan’s email with a mention of it A devastating blow to reproductive rights appears to be imminentThe PlayStation boss avoids taking sides, instead asking employees to “respect differences of opinion” on both sides of the issue.

In the email that Bloomberg saw and Kotaku Confirmed that it was sent to internally recruited employees, Ryan writes that the company, its employees, and its players are a “multifaceted and diverse” community and that they all have “many different viewpoints.” He also wrote that employees and the company “owe to each other and to the millions of PlayStation users to respect the 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 valuable global brand.”

Kotaku Contacted Sony and PlayStation about the email but received no response prior to publication.

Instead of taking a stand, promising to use his company’s resources to help employees who may need abortions in the future, or at least offering a nice letter in support of abortion rights, Ryan spent plenty of emails talking about his cats. seriously.

Barely after rant Destroying safe and legal access to abortion in the United StatesRyan wanted to share something “fun” in an effort to “inspire everyone to be conscious of having a balance that can help relieve stress caused by uncertain global events.” (Stress that a strong boss of a large company can be made easier by supporting his employees and their rights…)

Then he spent a report five paragraphs In the email he talks about his two cats’ first birthdays, the noises they make, and his dream of owning a dog one day. Bloomberg Reporter Jason Schreyer Also reported via Twitter Ryan writes that “dogs are truly man’s best friend, they know where they are, and they perform useful functions like biting thieves and chasing the balls you throw at them.” Kotaku He also separately confirmed the content of this email and learned that Ryan also wrote about missing and seeing his trips to Japan anatomy scandal

Read more: Tripwire CEO ‘steps down’ after backing anti-abortion law

As you might expect, some employees were not satisfied with the email. Bloomberg Reports suggest that internal discussion about the email was negative, with many sharing their anger and disappointment over the tone of the message and the lack of a stance in support of reproductive rights. One employee reportedly wrote that they had “never been mad at a birthday ever before.” Allegedly, some women at the company wrote that they feel their rights have been diminished or even diminished through Ryan’s email.

While PlayStation and Jim Ryan appear unable or unwilling to provide more concrete support for abortion access and women’s rights in the United States, Bungie took a completely different approach.

The Saucepan The developer has spent the past week and a half on Twitter, publicly supporting abortion access, and denouncing Roe v. Wade, and even confront angry gamers who don’t like the idea of ​​studios supporting their employees and their bodily rights. Under these circumstances, it is interesting to note PlayStation plans to buy Bungie for $3.6 billion. (Kotaku I also reached out to Bungie for this story, but didn’t get a response before publishing.) I’m curious if Sony and PlayStation would be okay with the studio continuing to publicly support abortion rights once the sale is complete.