Scarlett Johansson Forgives Disney Employees After Lawsuit, but Not Everyone

Ever since the lawsuit between Disney and A-list actress Scarlett Johansson was settled, Marvel fans and Avengers fans put the “explosive” legal battle in the back of their minds — but in a brand-new interview with Variety, the actress and skincare brand founder brought the lawsuit back to the forefront by finally addressing what happened!

In the interview with Variety, the actress (who recently also founded a skincare brand called The Outset) spoke about everything from the Disney lawsuit to the now-ongoing writers’ strike.

Many Marvel fans and Disney+ subscribers already know some of the details about the 2021 lawsuit that the Black Widow star set into motion against Disney after the company (as Variety put it) “screwed [her] over.”

Johansson had reportedly been asking Disney to compensate her for the Disney+ release profits for months before Black Widow was actually released, since her contract had made it clear that the movie was only meant for exclusive theater release.

According to Variety, “Disney — then led by CEO Bob Chapek — bragged that Black Widow generated more than $60 million in Disney+ Premier Access global sales in a bid to juice its stock price”, which only antagonized Johnasson further.

Disney fought against Johansson’s lawsuit in the court of public opinion, by accusing her of being insensitive since she was focusing on such a ‘trivial’ matter during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Disney also “casually revealed her tightly guarded $20 million upfront salary” as well, to presumably make the actress look greedy.

“She and I were very much in lockstep about what this was. And she had the conviction to let me fight back”, Bryan Lourd (Johansson’s agent) declared. “A lot of people wouldn’t do that. And part of the reason she did it is because she thought, in the position she’s in, she had a responsibility not just to herself but to other people who were being confronted with this change.”

Johansson’s “conviction” paid off in the public eye, and the actress shared in the interview that she has actually received praise from many strangers for sticking up for herself and knowing her own worth (even people who “have no skin in the game at all”).

Fortunately, however, the fact that the studio had allegedly “declared war” on Johansson seems to be false these days! Johansson is reportedly continuing with plans for the Disney movie about the popular Tower of Terror Disney World ride (which will apparently be directed by Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi).

The actress also still possesses “a real passion for the Disney Parks” and added that she is absolutely planning on seeing and supporting the controversial new Little Mermaid film.

According to the mother of two, her relationship with Disney was not permanently tarnished specifically because she “could separate the creatives at Disney from their business affairs department.”

“I’ve had such great working relationships with so many creatives there and continue to,” Johansson explained. “I believe in the magic of Disney. I’m able to still appreciate that and not let the callousness of that interaction sully my relationship and history with them, because they’re two separate things.”

And there you have it! If you’re a Disney employee who works in any of the creative departments, then it sounds like you might be able to have some positive conversations if you call Johansson about upcoming Disney projects.

If you work in Disney’s business or finance departments…well, it sounds like you might have some trouble getting responses to your emails.