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Ben Stiller on Sony pulling 'The Interview': We're denying audience 'right to choose'

Ben Stiller's new movie, "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," may benefit from the absence of a competing comedy that will no longer be coming to a theater near you: the controversial flick, "The Interview." But that doesn't mean Stiller's cheering.("Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" is a sponsor of TODAY)Stiller was one of several celebrities who took to Twitter Wednesday after "The

Ben Stiller's new movie, "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," may benefit from the absence of a competing comedy that will no longer be coming to a theater near you: the controversial flick, "The Interview." But that doesn't mean Stiller's cheering.

("Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" is a sponsor of TODAY)

Stiller was one of several celebrities who took to Twitter Wednesday after "The Interview" was pulled from theaters by distributor Sony Pictures, following threats made by hackers incensed by its portrayal of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Really+hard+to+believe+this+is+the+response+to+a+threat+to+freedom+of+expression+here+in+America. #TheInterview

—+Ben+Stiller+(@RedHourBen)+December+18,+2014+

And on his visit to the studio Friday, Stiller explained his feelings further:

"It's a tough decision. I don't envy the position [Sony was] in, but the audience has a right to choose what they want to see," he told TODAY's Matt Lauer.

"It's unfortunate that we have to deal with this, honestly just in this day and age what's going on," he added. "Our country is all about freedom of speech and freedom of self-expression, so when we start to engage in self-censorship that's influenced by intimidation from ... people or governments who just happen to not agree with the point of view of a movie, then I think we're denying the audience the right to choose what they want to see."

Be sure to watch the rest of Stiller's interview, where he talks about his "Museum" co-star and "idol," the late Robin Williams, and how he's happy to (jokingly) take credit for natural history museums seeing an uptick in attendance since his films started coming out.

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