Women in Film, ReFrame and Time’s Up Accuse Studio of “Gendered Attack” – The Hollywood Reporter

Ladies In Movie, ReFrame and Time’s Up have partnered on an announcement to accuse the Walt Disney Firm of a “gendered character assault” in its response to litigation filed by Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson on Thursday.

In a bombshell flip of occasions, Johansson filed a lawsuit alleging that the studio breached her contract when it launched Black Widow concurrently in theaters and on Disney+, a transfer she claims doubtlessly price her as a lot $50 million. In response, a Disney spokesperson stated, “The lawsuit is particularly unhappy and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and extended world results of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney has totally complied with Ms. Johansson’s contract and moreover, the discharge of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premiere Entry has considerably enhanced her capacity to earn further compensation on high of the $20M she has obtained up to now.”

The assertion didn’t sit properly with WIF, ReFrame and Time’s Up. Within the joint assertion, the organizations keep away from taking a place “on the enterprise points within the litigation,” as a substitute zeroing in on feedback concerning the pandemic and her wage.

“Whereas we take no place on the enterprise points within the litigation between Scarlett Johansson and the Walt Disney Firm, we stand firmly in opposition to Disney’s latest assertion which makes an attempt to characterize Johansson as insensitive or egocentric for defending her contractual enterprise rights,” reads the assertion. “This gendered character assault has no place in a enterprise dispute and contributes to an atmosphere through which ladies and ladies are perceived as much less ready than males to guard their very own pursuits with out dealing with advert hominem criticism.”

Johansson additionally obtained assist Friday from her high-profile agent, CAA co-chair Bryan Lourd. In a uncommon public assertion, the facility participant additionally took difficulty with the tenor of Disney’s assertion.

“They’ve shamelessly and falsely accused Ms. Johansson of being insensitive to the worldwide COVID pandemic, in an try and make her look like somebody they and I do know she isn’t,” Lourd stated. “Scarlett has been Disney’s companion on 9 motion pictures, which have earned Disney and its shareholders billions. The corporate included her wage of their press assertion in an try and weaponize her success as an artist and businesswoman, as if that had been one thing she ought to be ashamed of. Scarlett is extraordinarily happy with the work that she, and all the actors, writers, administrators, producers and the Marvel inventive staff have been part of for properly over a decade.”