Scarlett Johansson stars as Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow, in Marvel’s “Black Widow.”
Disney | Marvel
The president of the Display Actor’s Guild on Friday slammed Disney for “bullying” Marvel actress Scarlett Johansson in a public assertion it made concerning the “Black Widow” star’s lawsuit in opposition to the corporate final week.
Gabrielle Carteris stated Disney “needs to be ashamed” of its “gender-shaming” ways, which prompt that the actor had a “callous disregard” for the risks of Covid-19 to the moviegoing public.
“Actors have to be compensated for his or her work based on their contracts,” she stated in an announcement. “Scarlett Johansson is shining a white-hot highlight on the improper shifts in compensation that corporations are trying to slide by expertise as distribution fashions change.”
Carteris, whose group represents round 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists and performers throughout the media house, stated that nobody in any area of labor ought to “fall sufferer to shock reductions in anticipated compensation.”
She stated that SAG is deeply involved by the “gendered tone” of Disney’s response.
“Girls will not be ‘callous’ once they arise and combat for honest pay – they’re leaders and champions for financial justice,” she stated. “Girls have been victimized by pay inequity for many years, and so they have been additional victimized by feedback like these in Disney’s press statements. These types of assaults don’t have any place in our society and SAG-AFTRA will proceed to defend our members from all types of bias.”
Johansson filed a lawsuit in opposition to the corporate late final week, claiming Disney had breached her contract when it launched “Black Widow” on its streaming service Disney+ on the similar time it debuted in theaters.
Like many Marvel veterans together with Robert Downey Jr., Johansson negotiated to have a share of box-office receipts tacked on to her wage. This has develop into more and more widespread with Marvel Cinematic Universe movies due to their theatrical monitor document.
The streaming launch of the movie ate into box-office income, although Disney reported “Black Widow” scored $60 million from gross sales on Disney+ throughout its opening weekend. Globally, the movie has tallied just below $350 million in theatrical ticket gross sales, one of many lowest hauls of any Marvel movie so far.
In her lawsuit, Johansson purports that the shift to providing “Black Widow” on Disney+, whereas predominantly achieved for the protection of the general public, value her a $50 million payout.
“Disney and different content material corporations are doing very properly and may definitely reside as much as their obligations to compensate the performers whose artwork and artistry are answerable for the company’s income,” SAG’s Carteris stated Friday.
Disney responded to Johansson’s lawsuit final week, saying it had “no benefit in any way” and “has totally complied with” her contract. The corporate additionally disclosed that the star had been paid $20 million and will see a reduce from gross sales on Disney+. It’s not typical for corporations to share compensation info.