A month ago, Scarlett Johansson and Disney appeared to be on good terms as the actress was happily promoting Black Widow‘s then-incoming release in theaters and on streaming. Now, however, the long-held partnership between the star and studio is in tatters. First, Johansson filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly breaching her contract when they dropped the movie simultaneously on Disney Plus. Then Disney responded with some surprisingly pointed remarks, blasting the actress for her “callous disregard” for the COVID outbreak.
Johansson’s agent Bryan Lourd then publicly responded to Disney’s response, criticizing the studio for what he labelled a “direct attack” on her character. The Wrap reached out to ScarJo’s team for further comment and were told that Johansson was “shocked by the tone” of Disney’s scathing statement, which also somewhat crossed a line by outlining the star’s up-front salary for Black Widow – $20 million – which could be interpreted as a hint that the actress should be content with that hefty sum.
This suit has split Marvel fans down the middle, with some siding with the actress against the studio while others aren’t so sympathetic. What’s more, it’s also raised speculation that Johansson may start a trend for stars to hit back against companies for sharing their movies on streaming. Emma Stone, for example, is rumored to be considering a similar lawsuit against Disney for their Cruella release strategy.
So far, other Disney stars have remained quiet on the situation and have yet to either put their support behind ScarJo or the studio. Marvel’s Dave Bautista – who’s known for speaking his mind – has offered a joking response to the situation but that’s about it. But with this newfound feud between Scarlett Johansson and Disney clearly not stopping anytime soon, no doubt there will be a few more unexpected developments to come.