Scarlett Johansson’s Agent Fires Back at Disney’s Response to Her Black Widow Lawsuit
In their statement, Disney said the company “has fully complied with Ms. Johansson’s contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date.”
Lourd responded in his statement, “The company included her salary in their press statement in an attempt to weaponize her success as an artist and businesswoman, as if that were something she should be ashamed of. Scarlett is extremely proud of the work that she, and all of the actors, writers, directors, producers, and the Marvel creative team have been a part of for well over a decade.”
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
“This suit was filed as a result of Disney’s decision to knowingly violate Scarlett’s contract,” the actress’ agent said in his statement. “They have very deliberately moved the revenue stream and profits to the Disney+ side of the company, leaving artistic and financial partners out of their new equation. That’s it, pure and simple.”
He added, “Disney’s direct attack on her character and all else they implied is beneath the company that many of us in the creative community have worked with successfully for decades.”
Disney had no immediate comment on Lourd’s statement when reached by E! News.
The company is not the first to debut a new film on a streaming platform amid the coronavirus pandemic. Disney has employed the same hybrid release strategy with a few other movies, most recently its new Jungle Cruise film.
The film has so far earned more than $159 million at the domestic box office and more than $319 million at movie theaters worldwide since its July 9 release. It tallied more than $60 million from rental fees on Disney+ during its opening weekend. According to Forbes, which cited Hollywood sources, Johansson could have earned more than $50 million in bonus payments had Black Widow been released exclusively in theaters.
Johansson is the highest paid woman in the Marvel franchise and ranked the No. 1 top-earning actress in 2019 with $56 million in annual pay, Forbes reported. The outlet said she made $35 million from her appearance as Black Widow in that year’s blockbuster Avengers: Endgame—$20 million of which came from bonus payments from the film’s worldwide box office revenue, which totaled almost $2.8 billion.
Source: eonline.com
