The feud between Marvel and one of its greatest actors is already escalating, with Scarlett Johansson accusing the studio of launching a “misogynistic campaign” over the release of Black Widow.
Disney’s legal team dubbed Johansson’s case “gamesmanship” on Saturday, describing it as the opening step in what could be a long legal struggle. That phrase was enough to entice the MCU star to return later that day.
According to Deadline, Johansson reacted to the company’s initial statement on Saturday, dismissing it as an attempt to “cover its misbehavior in a confidential arbitration.”
“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,” said the Oscar nominee’s main lawyer John Berlinski today after the House of Mouse’s response to Johansson’s scathing profits lawsuit went public.
“Why is Disney so afraid of litigating this case in public?,” added the Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP attorney in what has become a Cuban Missile Crisis level war of words.
The attorney outlined Johansson’s argument, claiming that Disney’s simultaneous distribution of the film on Disney+ and its theatrical window resulted in a poor box office performance in order to “increase Disney+ subscribers.” According to the first report on Saturday, Disney wants to resolve things outside of court, but this public back-and-forth indicates that things behind the scenes aren’t going as well as either party would want.
