Kevin Hart responds to Sony executive's leaked email comments

Yesterday, we learned that Sony executive Clint Culpepper believes comedian Kevin Hart to be a "whore" via a series of leaked emails stemming from the Sony Pictures hack last month. Today, Hart has responded to those comments, calling them "ignorance" that he will ignore and "continue to move forward."

"Knowing your self worth is extremely important people," he wrote in an Instagram post from today. "I worked very hard to get where I am today. I look at myself as a brand and because of that I will never allow myself to be taking advantage of. I OWN MY BRAND…I MAKE SMART DECISIONS FOR MY BRAND….I PROTECT MY BRAND….which is why I'm able to brush ignorance off of my shoulder and continue to move forward. I refuse to be broken people…with that being said its now time for me to get back to building this empire that I've always dreamed of!!!!"

The situation began yesterday when a leaked email revealed that Culpepper slammed Hart over the comedian's asking for more money to promote Think Like a Man Too. For that film, Hart was apparently paid $3 million, a sum in which he didn't include social media promotion.

"I'm not saying he's a whore, but he's a whore," Culpepper wrote in a March 2014 email to Sony co-chair Amy Pascal. "If he doesn't do his normal routine, his film will not open as well and his brand will appear diminished and he will — in fact — be f------ himself because we have his next 2 immediate films."

The Hart situation, of course, is but a small blemish on the trove of gaffes that have cropped up in the wake of the Sony hack. Yesterday, news also broke that producer Scott Rudin and Pascal made racial jokes about President Obama, saying that his favorite movies likely included "12 Years a Slave," "Django Unchained," and "The Butler."

"I bet he likes Kevin Hart," Rudin wrote at one point.

The pair have since apologized for those comments. Culpepper, however, has not.