Seth Rogen and James Franco poke fun at Sony Pictures hacking scandal

Actor Seth Rogen made a surprise appearance on comedy show Saturday Night Live this weekend (06Dec14) to join his pal James Franco to poke fun at the recent Sony Pictures hacking scandal.

The movie giant's computer network was compromised at the end of November (14) and the personal details of many stars, including Angelina Jolie and Cameron Diaz, were stolen, while a number of films from the studio, including Brad Pitt's war drama Fury and the forthcoming adaptation of Annie, were leaked online.

It was thought officials in North Korea were responsible for the incident as an act of revenge on the movie giant over its support for upcoming comedy The Interview, in which Franco and Rogen embark on a mission to assassinate the country's dictator Kim Jong Un.

The actors used the controversy for laughs as part of Franco's opening monologue on Saturday Night Live as they cracked jokes about the incident and poked fun at a number of other 2014 scandals, including the recent celebrity nude photo leak, and Franco's correspondence with Scottish teenager Lucy Clode, who he met and flirted with online following a performance of his Broadway play Of Mice & Men.

In the segment, Rogen and Franco jokingly showed off photographs of themselves in various comprising positions, including one in which they recreated the famous John Lennon commemorative cover for Rolling Stone magazine.

The original snap featured a naked Lennon cuddled up to his wife Yoko Ono, but Rogen opted to keep his underwear on as he curled up with Franco for the modern interpretation.

The Spider-Man star also touched on his infamous social media controversy from earlier this year (14), joking, "All the girls who got Instagram messages from me this year, last year - the hackers did it, it was the hackers!"

North Korean government officials, who have publicly condemned the fictional movie plot for The Interview, have since denied any involvement in the Sony hack attack.