These days, Scarlett Johansson is kind of on top of the world. She’s the world’s highest-earning female movie star, she’s getting her own Marvel movie, she has two different projects coming out this fall that are already getting award buzz. Add to that list that she’s engaged to SNL’s Colin Jost, and things seem to be going great in her career and her personal life. But for some reason, Scarlett Johansson can’t stop saying problematic sh*t, and the internet is starting to get sick of it.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Scarlett Johansson was asked how she felt about Woody Allen. In response, she said (brace yourself), “I love Woody. I believe him, and I would work with him anytime.” As you might recall, Woody Allen was famously accused of sexually assaulting his daughter Dylan Farrow when she was a child. Though Allen has always denied the allegations, and has never been charged with any crime in connection, the Hollywood community has largely distanced themselves from him in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Many actors have committed to never working with him again, and most of the stars of his most recent movie chose to donate their salaries to Time’s Up.
Scarlett Johansson, however, is publicly taking a very different stance on the issue. She continued telling THR, “I see Woody whenever I can, and I have had a lot of conversations with him about it. I have been very direct with him, and he’s very direct with me. He maintains his innocence, and I believe him.”
The thing is, we’re in this important era of believing and respecting people when they come forward about things like sexual abuse, and Scarlett Johansson’s dismissal of the allegations against Woody Allen feels like a slap in the face of the entire #MeToo movement. I’m not saying that she shouldn’t ever speak to Woody Allen again if she loves him that much, she can do whatever she wants in private I guess, but she could just…say nothing publicly. Or acknowledge that since you weren’t there, you don’t have any way of truly knowing what happened. You don’t have to be a social justice warrior, but you can try not to be an actively sh*tty person.
But what if Scarlett Johansson is an actively sh*tty person? In the past, she has drawn criticism for accepting roles as a transgender man and an Asian woman, two types of people of which she is neither, and who often are underrepresented and undercast in film. It’s one thing to have made poor choices in the past, but just this July, Scarlett defended her job as an actor in a way that made a lot of people raise an eyebrow. She told As If magazine: “The question is, what is acting anyway? You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job.”
Okay, so she didn’t exactly say that she should get to play an Asian woman if she wants to, but she heavily alluded to it. Like, big respect to the profession of acting, but pretending to be a different race is not the same thing as pretending to be a tree. I’m rolling my eyes so hard right now.
She continued, saying that “there are times does get uncomfortable when it affects the art because I feel art should be free of restrictions.” Ohhhh I’m SO sorry that it’s uncomfy to be politically correct sometimes, but there are marginalized groups out there that experience a lot more discomfort in their day-to-day lives, so she’s really not getting any sympathy from me.
https://twitter.com/sarafcarter/status/1169622043660361730
Back in 2017, Scarlett Johansson also got side-eyes when she said that she would support Donald Trump as President if he stopped his plan to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood. Of course, I’m a big supporter of Planned Parenthood (I once donated in Donald Trump’s name on his birthday), but that’s not close to the only thing that’s problematic about Trump’s Presidency. Hey Scarlett, let’s get a shout-out for those kids in cages!
When it comes down to it, Scarlett Johansson seems like someone who is, at best, horribly out of touch with reality. Maybe when you’re as famous as she is, you don’t realize how some of these things come across. Or maybe she’s an undercover Alt Right Princess, who really knows? Either way, she should definitely stop making public comments about this stuff, because none of it is a good look for her.
Images: Shutterstock; alyssabosard, sarafcarter / Twitter
