Disney ‘should be ashamed’ of ‘bullying’ Scarlett Johansson, says SAG-AFTRA president

Actor has filed a lawsuit against company over ‘Black Widow’ release

The president of the actors union SAG-AFTRA, Gabrielle Carteris, has condemned Disney for its handling of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow lawsuit.

“Disney should be ashamed of themselves for resorting to tired tactics of gender-shaming and bullying,” Carteris said in a statement on Friday (6 August). “Actors must be compensated for their work according to their contracts. Scarlett Johansson is shining a white-hot spotlight on the improper shifts in compensation that companies are attempting to slip by talent as distribution models change.”

She added: “Nobody in any field of work should fall victim to surprise reductions in expected compensation. It is unreasonable and unjust. Disney and other content companies are doing very well and can certainly live up to their obligations to compensate the performers whose art and artistry are responsible for the corporation’s profits.”

Johansson recently filed a lawsuit against Disney over its decision to part-stream the release of Black Widow alongside a cinema release.

The actor alleged that the online release violated her contract and that her compensation for the movie was “largely based” on Black Widow’s box office performance.

Disney hit back in a statement last week, leaking Johansson’s $20m salary for the film and saying: “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.”

This week, Disney lawyer Daniel Petrocelli said the demands in Johansson’s lawsuit are “not obtainable” and alleged it was a “PR campaign”.