Scarlett Johansson's Lawyer Slams Disney's Misogynistic Response To Lawsuit

[Animous]

Scarlett Johansson's lawyer has criticized Disney's "misogynistic" response to the ongoing Black Widow lawsuit. After pushing the release date for Black Widow's solo prequel movie back several times due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Disney finally decided to give the long-anticipated MCU movie a dual release on Disney+ and in theaters. At the end of July, Johansson sued the House of Mouse, claiming the dual release was a breach of contract and significantly cut into her salary. Like most stars in the MCU, Johansson received an upfront payment and would also receive bonuses based on Black Widow's box office performance.

Black Widow didn't perform as well as it likely would have if COVID wasn't still an ongoing issue worldwide. However, the film still made $158.8 million internationally opening weekend and another $60 million from Disney+ Premier Access release. Black Widow saw a 67% drop at the box office during its second weekend, which was the biggest drop of any MCU movie thus far and led to reports that Johansson lost out on $50 million due to the dual release. Disney seemed shocked by the lawsuit but had harsh words about Johansson's decision stating, "There is no merit whatsoever to this filing" and that Johansson had a "callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic." Johansson's lawyer called this response an attack on the actress' character, and many have been rallying behind Johansson, including the Women In Film Organization. Most recently, Disney has claimed the lawsuit is an "orchestrated PR campaign" and hopes to avoid trial by opening arbitration against the actress.

RELATED: Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow Lawsuit Against Disney Explained

Deadline has provided the most recent update to the case with Johansson's lawyer's response to Disney's move to avoid trial. John Berlinski now calls Disney's response to the lawsuit a "misogynistic attack" and claims Disney purposefully released Black Widow on Disney+ to gain more subscribers even though they knew it would "cannibalize box office receipts." Berlinski's full comment can be read below:

"After initially responding to this litigation with a misogynistic attack against Scarlett Johansson, Disney is now, predictably, trying to hide its misconduct in a confidential arbitration. Why is Disney so afraid of litigating this case in public? Because it knows that Marvel’s promises to give Black Widow a typical theatrical release ‘like its other films’ had everything to do with guaranteeing that Disney wouldn’t cannibalize box office receipts in order to boost Disney+ subscriptions. Yet that is exactly what happened – and we look forward to presenting the overwhelming evidence that proves it.”

While box office numbers for movies like A Quiet Place 2 and F9 indicated the theater industry was slowly starting to go back to normal, streaming has no doubt continued to affect films' box office performances. Warner Bros. initially faced heavy backlash for releasing all of their 2021 movies in theaters and on HBO Max, and movies like The Suicide Squad suffered massive second-weekend dropoffs because people could stream the movie at home. Johansson's lawsuit is highly publicized, yet Warner Bros. hasn't had as many legal issues since they were willing to amend contracts in light of the dual releases. Disney was unwilling to do this for Johansson, with Disney CEO Bob Chapek stating, "we’ve entered into hundreds of arrangements with talent…by and large they’ve gone smoothly." 

With more and more movies getting dual releases now due to the Delta variant, it's possible lawsuits similar to Black Widow could continue to pop up. Several Disney actors are reportedly considering lawsuits against the company. Emma Stone was reportedly planning to sue Disney, but she seems to have worked out a better deal for Cruella 2 instead. Disney's plan for Premier Access titles isn't known just yet now that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is confirmed for a theatrical-only release, but it's possible it could be a permanent feature for Disney+ since streaming is now a top priority for the studio. Disney and Johansson's legal team haven't been afraid to exchange harsh words back and forth, so it looks like this is only the beginning of a long legal battle.

MORE: 

[Silent Watcher]

Avoid unnecessary posts such as 'Thank you', 'Welcome', etc. Such posts will be deleted and user will be warned if it happens again. If caught spamming, the following actions are applicable -

• First time - Warning
• Second time - 5000 Points will be deducted
• Third time - Ban for 7 days
• Fourth time - Permanent Ban

If the post helped you, reward the user by reacting to the post like this -