They say that all publicity is good publicity, but given the daily deluge of Sony Pictures emails revealing all kinds of Hollywood gossip and backstabbing, whoever invented that saying might want to have a re-think.

Irish/German actor Michael Fassbender would undoubtedly agree. His name emerged prominently last week with relation to his nabbing the part of Steve Jobs in the upcoming biopic on the legendary Apple guru – but Oscar and Emmy winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was none too happy about his choice.

“This used to be an event. I don't know who Michael Fassbender is and the rest of the world isn't going to care,” he fumed in an email to the two Hollywood execs at the center of the email hacking scandal, Sony co-chairwoman Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin. “This is insane.”

Sorkin, who’s also getting scorched on other fronts thanks to the hack, eventually came around and praised Fassbender, who was raised in Co. Kerry.

“F*** it. He's a great actor whose time has come,” Sorkin later wrote.

“That’s where I ended up,” Pascal replied.

Another Sony big-wig – well, maybe not so big – commented on Fassbender’s private parts, which were noticeably on display a few years back in the film Shame.

Sony producer Michael De Luca wrote that Fass “makes you feel bad to have normal sized genitalia.” Guess that’s what qualifies as a compliment in Tinseltown these days!