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Scarlett Johansson has been in the headlines lately because she decided to stand up to the biggest media company on the planet. Johansson alleges his contract was broken by the decision to release Black Widow at Disney + before giving it a proper theatrical release. No matter how strong her case, Disney executives have responded with personal and misogynistic attacks on her character.
Now Women in Film, ReFrame, and Time’s Up have come together to issue a statement condemning this behavior and the society’s cruel treatment of Johansson. And they are right to do so.
The situation so far
Variety, Hollywood journalist, and Reuters all gave very concise breakdowns of Johansson’s lawsuit and the strength of his case against Disney. I encourage you to read them because, unfortunately, there is simply not enough space to go through all the details and get to the point of this article.
Having said that, the TL; DR is that Johansson is suing Disney for breaking the terms of their contract on Black Widow which, according to Variety, would have:
“guaranteed a ‘wide theatrical release’ for ‘Black Widow,’ meaning the film would be shown on at least 1,500 screens. Johansson’s lawyers claim that everyone understood that to mean a theatrical release.” exclusive “, under which” Black Widow “would not be available on other platforms for at least 90 to 120 days.
The details from there become more complicated and difficult to condense depending on the number of words available. But, suffice to say that it seems that whether his case is solid or not can come down to semantics. But that’s not why I’m writing this.
Why are you writing this then?
Disney’s response to Johansson’s trial was heinous. In a direct attack on his character, Disney released a public statement saying:
“The lawsuit is particularly sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney has fully honored Ms. Johansson’s contract and, moreover, the release of Black Widow on Disney + with Premiere Access has dramatically improved her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $ 20 million she has received to date.
Let’s start with the fact that they disclosed her salary in little more than an “attempt to arm her success as an artist and businesswoman”. by his talent agency, CAA. Bryan Lourd, co-chair of the Creative Artists Agency, added:
“They shamelessly and wrongly accused Ms Johansson of being insensitive to the global COVID pandemic, in an attempt to make her appear as someone they and I know she is not. […] The company included her salary in its press release in an attempt to arm her success as an artist and businesswoman, as if it was something she should be ashamed of. Scarlett is extremely proud of the work she and all of Marvel’s actors, writers, directors, producers and creative team have been involved in for over a decade. […] Disney’s direct attack on her character and all that it implied is underneath the business that many of us in the creative community have worked with successfully for decades.
And he’s right. Without a doubt, 100% correct. There is no debate on this one.
It’s time to get up
Women in Film, ReFrame and Time’s Up released a statement in favor of Johansson saying:
“While we take no position on trade issues in the Scarlett Johansson-The Walt Disney Company litigation, we strongly oppose Disney’s recent statement that attempts to characterize Johansson as callous or selfish for defending his contractual trade rights. This sexist attack has no place in a trade conflict and contributes to an environment in which women and girls are seen as less able than men to protect their own interests without facing ad hominem criticism.
Johansson is fighting for his contractual rights, as it should be. No one should ever give up fighting for their value, especially if that value has been clearly stated in a legal and binding contract. The sad reality is that women in all sectors, and in particular Black woman and women of color (disproportionately, in fact), are constantly underpaid and feel selfish or ungrateful for asking what they are worth.
It’s a pervasive problem in Hollywood that’s been the subject of conversation instead of enough action for years now. The pay gap between men and women in the film industry is huge, especially because you are dealing with high wages as is.
The fact that celebrities make huge sums of money (like Johansson’s $ 20 million from Black Widow) is irrelevant. The problem is not whether she was paid enough for her work; is that the company probably tried to bypass it, and it said no.
In the end, that’s why Disney lashed out like they did. Their statement, however brief and passionate it may be (executives can be so emotional), uses the pandemic and its worldwide death toll of more than 4.2 million as a shield while arming Johansson’s success with the aim of possibly (in this writer’s opinion) making her a example and dissuade others from doing the same. And it failed.
“It’s no secret that Disney releases movies like Black Widow directly on Disney + to increase the number of subscribers and thereby increase the company’s share price, ”Johansson’s lawyer said, Jean Berlinski by Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, “and that he is hiding behind COVID-19 as an excuse to do so.”
This is the mindset thrown at women every day in virtually every industry: don’t be selfish, be grateful for having so many and stop asking for more.
Johansson is here to say that, and some pretty powerful people are starting to stand by his side, as they should be. Does Johansson need more millions of dollars? Maybe she does, maybe she doesn’t. At the end of the day, it’s nobody’s business other than his own. What should be our business is to oppose a system that constantly marginalizes women, preventing them from earning their due wages and harassing them to feel grateful for the crumbs they are given. .
Now, this problem is affecting women everywhere, and it is imperative that she and her team stand firm.
Due to Disney’s reaction to his trial, it doesn’t matter if his case holds up or not. Their plan to publicly discredit her backfired, leading them to unwittingly show their misogynist hand in an industry fraught with inequality.
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