Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Black Widow’ suit fires up fans, but Hollywood stays silent
Scarlett Johansson elicited a fiery response when she said she would be suing Disney for allegedly breaching her contract from both the media giant and fans — but Hollywood is mum.
The House of Mouse decided to release “Black Widow” on its Disney+ streaming service at the same time that it premiered in theaters, a move she claimed cost her millions.
Disney responded to the suit Thursday, writing: “There is no merit whatsoever to this filing. The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic … Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson’s contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date.”
Johansson’s “Avengers” co-stars and Hollywood peers appear to be silent at the moment, seemingly not showing any support despite the “woke” move. However, fans, unhappy upon her announcement, have now sounded off in disgust on social media.
“I don’t care how rich Scarlett Johansson already is. She was f–ked over through a breach of contract and she should sue,” one fan tweeted. “You can’t really claim that you support professional women to demand what they’re worth and promised and then be like, ‘except her, she’s doing fine as is.’ ”
“If @Disney can backstab Scarlett Johansson after working with her for 10 years, there’s no telling how they gonna screw over y’alls new favorites. #BoycottDisney,” a ScarJo fan page account added.
Another angry fan chimed in: “Scarlett Johansson isn’t being greedy here. By releasing ‘Black Widow’ on Disney+, then not counting that revenue towards her expected salary, as is done with Box Office tickets, Disney tried to screw her out of what she was owed. F–k Disney.”
Others seemed to disagree.
“Not y’all feeling bad for Scarlett Johansson????? The same woman who stood by [Harvey] Weinstein???? The same yt woman who constantly takes roles from POC/LGBT+ ???? Can’t be,” one user tweeted, noting how she pulled out of a film where she would play a trans person.
Johansson, 36, has been vocal in the past about the way her Marvel character was treated like a “piece of ass” in past films. July’s “Black Widow” is her Natasha Romanoff character’s standalone origin story. The actress, who is married to “Saturday Night Live” star Colin Jost, has revealed her contempt for the hypersexualization of her character.
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During a 2019 discussion during a press visit to the set of the flick, the “Marriage Story” star explained, “I mean, you look back at ‘Iron Man 2’ and while it was really fun and had a lot of great moments in it, the character is so sexualized, you know? Really talked about like she’s a piece of something, like a possession or a thing or whatever — like a piece of ass, really. And Tony [Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr.] even refers to her as something like that at one point. What does he say? ‘I want some.’ “