I had actually forgotten all about this, but in 2014, Scarlett Johansson said a lot of stupid words about working with Woody Allen. They made Match Point, Scoop and Vicky Christina Barcelona together, and for a time, ScarJo was considered one of Woody’s greatest “muses.” She was asked, shortly after Dylan Farrow first went public with her scathing op-ed that year, if she would ever work with with Woody again. Scarlett said: “I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t.” She was asked in greater depth about the Dylan op-ed in an interview with the Guardian in 2014, and here’s what she said:
“I think it’s irresponsible to take a bunch of actors that will have a Google alert on and to suddenly throw their name into a situation that none of us could possibly knowingly comment on. That just feels irresponsible to me. I’m unaware that there’s been a backlash [against Woody]. I think he’ll continue to know what he knows about the situation, and I’m sure the other people involved have their own experience with it. It’s not like this is somebody that’s been prosecuted and found guilty of something, and you can then go, ‘I don’t support this lifestyle or whatever.’ I mean, it’s all guesswork. I don’t know anything about it. It would be ridiculous for me to make any kind of assumption one way or the other.”
“I mean, it’s all guesswork.” Yeah. That’s the thing about believing women, right? When Dylan Farrow writes down what happened to her, you have to make a choice about whether you believe her. When Dylan Farrow goes on CBS This Morning and says, on camera, what happened to her, you make a choice then too. Yes, it is he said/she said. Yes, we don’t have “proof” and “evidence” or a criminal conviction. It’s guesswork in that we’re “guessing” (choosing) whom to believe.
Why this trip down memory lane? Because Scarlett Johansson got up at the Women’s March over the weekend and burned James Franco.
She said: “My mind baffles… How could a person publicly stand by an organization that helps to provide support for victims of sexual assault while privately praying on people who have no power? I want my pin back, by the way.” She also seems to be alluding to Aziz Ansari too. So… it’s a thing. Everybody is on hyper-vigilant Hypocrisy Watch these days so of course Scarlett’s 2014 comments about Woody Allen were brought up. Why is it all “guesswork” when it involves Woody Allen, and yet it’s not just “guesswork” when it involves James Franco? Franco hasn’t been convicted of anything either, and the only evidence we have is women coming forward and telling their stories, like Dylan Farrow did. Why does Scarlett believe Franco’s victims’ stories and not believe Dylan Farrow?
I should note, however, that I find the gleeful nature of calling out ScarJo’s hypocrisy to be unseemly in some quarters, mostly because she’s been an object of derision by ultra-conservatives for a long time. Like, call her out for being a hypocrite, for sure. But… I don’t know, there are so many alt-right d-bags who hate her, it makes me feel protective of her a little bit.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
People are allowed to grow and change. I’m sure recent events have prompted growth from some people who considered themselves feminist before. I wonder what Scarlett would say today to the Woody question? She should be able to revise her answer is all I’m saying.
And yes, the gleeful takedowns are getting exhausting.
Agree. Lots of people are sort of waking up to this reality. Lots were young when some accusations started being discussed. Lots might not have known. It’s pretty easy to bury your head without realizing…
“I’m sure recent events have prompted growth from some people who considered themselves feminist before….And yes, the gleeful takedowns are getting exhausting.” Agree so much with this. However, because Scarlet’s comments dismissed Dylan’s experience and were condescending, I just think it would have been so much better if she had acknowledged and apologized for the role she played in the problem and THEN went after James Franco. It’s not too late for her to do that yet, but it needs to happen. Everybody who either signed the petition for Roman Polanski or made statements supporting Woody Allen really needs to woman-up or man-up and apologize.
Well she’s had plenty of opportunity to say something about Woody Allen now. She has a platform. Lots of actors who have worked with him have made statements – she certainly could, too, if she has had ‘grown’, as you say. She can revise her answer – but she has chosen not to.
I agree with Claire. I also think that people can and should grow, otherwise the progress is impossible, but she has the platform there and instead or in addition to attacking others, looking at one self and saying either sorry for what you have dobe in the past or simply admitting that you have grown would be a very much needed addition to the movement and encouraging real change, without stigma and moralisation. As long as she chooses to use her plqtform only to call out others and not as a possibility for self reflection, I have no problem with calling out her hypocracy. 3 times she worked with him! Deffinitelly enough time to rething things.
I’m not sure if she’s “grown” or not. I’m just saying she should be allowed to change her mind. Sure, she should have figured it out earlier, but I’m running out of outrage.
I agree with Clare as well. She should at least acknowledge that her comments about Woody in the past were wrong…it would lend a lot more credibility to anything she says now.
Agree Clare. So, no pass for Scarlett. In fact, she just looks like a ham bone because of this.
Great comment @Clare! Totally agree!
Just a big ol’ Nope on SJ. She is a hypocrite, and she had ample time to speak out about WA and educate herself and then revise / correct / change her opinion. 4 years, in fact. And C’mon, it’s not like she made those statements in the dark ages… it was in 2014… sexually abusing a child was wrong then, continues to be wrong today.
I agree with Clare.
She has just chosen to pick and choose her scum bags , she blasts James Franco but still supports Woody Allen ,wth!
I agree. I think the scope of all of this may be a wake up call for many, and a rethinking of many old opinions. I hope she takes the time to think about it, and reevaluates her position.
If she doesn’t and maintains what she said, fine call her a hypocrite, But until then let’s give her the chance to correct herself.
She was almost 30 years old in 2014. I would hardly call her young. She has had plenty of time to correct herself, to revise her statements, to use her platform… she hasn’t.
@ALOT
And she was going on about having breakfast with her friend Woody Allen just last year.
White women always get the excuse of “youth” when POC are never given that same excuse. White women get to make mistake after mistake but god forbid you call them out on the fact that they are a victim blaming racist, cause “women need to support other women” or “she was young 30 year old girl who didn’t know better”. It’s the Taylor Swift approach to feminism.
RIGHT. Young? Are you serious? She was a grown woman. Miss me with that excuse too
Thank you! And she worked with him MULTIPLE times. She has had plenty of opportunity- ESPECIALLY in the last 6 months to say something. She has chosen not to.
Yes to all of the commenters above! Part of her “brand” is being evolved, aware, and informed. I also know her private persona through peripheral interactions with her and at least for the last 5 years she has been very pro-woman/empowered woman in the way that she interacts with people and puts herself out there. So, there is a burden of responsibility that comes along with that, IMHO.
Its time to reconcile. I want everyone to grow and change and become better versions of themselves. But part of that is holding each other accountable for our past words and actions.
Why should we be capping for a woman who has been repeatedly racist? Why shouldn’t we call out white feminists? This whole “Never call a woman out” mentality is equally as wrong. Scarjo is a racist white woman who only uses feminism for her own gain. She doesn’t deserve to be giving speeches right now. Not after what she said about Asian women.
Eh. Aziz uses feminism for his own gain–and in the most literal way possible. He is not a white woman yet people continue to defend and infantilize him, the same way we defend and infantilize many celebs that we like.
I agree with you that WW get treated with kid gloves and very consistently given the benefit of the doubt while we are all too happy to condemn WOC for the slightest transgression–I’m just not sure this is an example of that. I notice that people tend to give the celebs they like a lot of second chances, regardless of gender or color. Call it the power of cult of personality—BTW, you can credit Trump’s presidency to the same frustrating phenomenon.
ETA: I’m open to being wrong about this–it’s possible that I’m blinded by my own experience as a WW. I’m just consistently surprised by who we pick and choose to condemn, that’s all.
Eh lets be real WW get capped for way more than a brown dude. Aziz is one guy that is happening to get (mostly white) women to defend him. I certainly will not defend the guy. However one brown guy does not a trend make
Aziz deserved to be called out, but I did see racist comments thrown his way. Not that it excuses his actions, but I tend to think the problem with Aziz was more the site it came from, and the backlash, in general, that was just bound to happen. A poorly written article on an extremely sensitive subject about a rather likable dude to most, at a time when many were already getting tired of the movement.
But the point does stand because POC rarely gets told they are “young” when committing crimes. Look at how Katie Way was treated, she fucked up big time but she is 22, but I didn’t see many people saying she was young.
The point with Scarjo is she wants to be seen as a leader, she has made comments over the years which proves she wants to be seen as a leader in the feminist movement. Well, this is what being a leader is, she’s open to criticism from other women about how she’s handled her feminism.
It’s not that I think Scarjo is worse than other actresses, I just think she shouldn’t be trying rebrand herself as a feminist leader, and feminist should reject her as a leader on the bases of her racism alone.
What has she done that is racist?
She was the lead in Ghost in the Shell (she has other roles too) which is a whitewashed movie, she repeatedly said she wasn’t playing a POC but the movie literally had the brain of a Japanese woman put in the brain of a white woman, when called out for it she basically said Asian women should just be happy that white women get roles. This was last year, she easily could have turned the role down, it’s not like she needed it. It was a flop anyway.
She said last year she would support Donald Trump if he provided reproductive rights. Ignoring all the ways Trump is bad for WOC.
And she has consistently supported Israel’s building on the west bank which harms Palestinian women. She seems to not care about the women suffering at the hands of the right-wing government of Israel.
Fair enough, ladies.
I did not know about her comments RE: Trump. Gross.
Wait, what did she say about Asian women?
I have always had an irrational dislike of her, so haven’t followed her closely at all.
ETA: never mind, I just saw your explanation above. Thank you! She’s awful.
“Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive,” Johansson said. “Also, having a franchise with a female protagonist driving it is such a rare opportunity. Certainly, I feel the enormous pressure of that — the weight of such a big property on my shoulders.”
This is one of the statements she made, it was specifically Asian American women who were calling her out on this one. So she’s basically saying “Yea but isn’t a white woman in a position of power in a film cool” which isn’t okay.
There was a good Vox piece you can watch about Yellow Face and the problems with it, here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB0lrSebyng if you wanna know more.
I think you’re both right. This situation looks and feels more like people being tired and resentful of the ways women of every race and ethnicity repeatedly have predatory/violent male acts blamed on and used against them politically, plus anxiety and disgust over the different ways conservatives have exploited this moment from minute 1, than anything. But a good chunk of the famous women getting both positive and negative attention in this are the white ones. There is a lot of “Baby didn’t mean too, boys will be boys”-style infantilizing of men (along with people rallying around the men that they like), but it’s also true that women who are white get an extra dose of infantilization in certain situations too. Age definitely shouldn’t be used as an excuse for someone in her 30’s, and the fact that Scarlett basically implied that she’d vote for the xenophobic racist republican if it weren’t for his misogyny says a lot about her feminism.
Diligent
I see now. Thank you for the backstory.
@DiligentDiva, I agree with 90% of what you said, but am confused by this: ” She seems to not care about the women suffering at the hands of the right-wing government of Israel.”… As opposed to the liberal haven that is Palestine?
Perfect comments, DiligentDiva. Perhaps Scarlett will prove me wrong, but right now she’s just another ww using feminism and the recent movements around it to advance her own brand.
What has she done that is, in your opinion, “racist”? I see a lot of angry words from you with little substance. Why do we need to differentiate between “white feminism” and “black feminism”? We are ALL women regardless of race and while a black woman’s experiences in life may be different from a white woman’s, it does NOT make the white woman’s experience any less valid. Take a look at your own ugly words before you point the finger at others.
I read your explanation. Her comments are not racist. What she was trying to express is that it’s already rare to have a female lead in ANY role, especially in an action role, and she’s right. The film was terrible yes but nothing she has done is racist. As for supporting Donald Trump, it’s her choice. If he does things that change what is important to HER, and she agrees with it, then it’s her perogative. We all have different issues that are important to us and different things that affect our lives. Her experience is NOT less valid than yours. While you expect her, a white woman, to advocate for YOUR issues that are important to you, do you advocate for the issues the are important to you? Sounds like you expect the world to stand up for what matters to you but you are not willing to stand up for what matters to other people. There’s no shame in being white. We are all born in what we are born into. We’re humans. Stop dividing and start uniting.
@cd3:
I think Diligent Diva (maybe I am wrong @ Diligent Diva) meant oppressed as : “having your land stripped, under permanent military control, no basic human rights, no perspective, no future, no recognition, nothing and your ressources controlled by ” the israeli far-right.
And who knows about Palestine ? maybe if It was free , people would be liberal who knows ?
It’s hard to choose being liberal or else if you just struggle for your survival.
How exactly are people determining that she’s changed?
They’re not, they’re just assuming. Nothing has indicated at all that she has changed her mind on this issue at all.
I’m hoping, but not assuming.
I’m not sure she has or not. Like I said, I’m curious what she would say about Woody today.
Yeah, I’m confused on that, too. When and where was a better time and place to briefly address and/or correct her going in LOUD & LONG for Allen in the past than when she’s figuratively and LITERALLY on a (womens’ march/issues) platform, instead of leaving us *assuming* she’s more insightful since ’16? Never had a prob w/ her publicly speaking about, for, and with Allen before…
Agree @Milennial, Florc and Lucy.
“How is it ok for someone in a position of power to use that power to take advantage of someone in a lesser position, just because you can?” First image to pop into my mind was monica lewinski. It would be amazing to see bill clinton step up at this point in history and right some wrongs. (second image was of course, harvey weinstein and well, everyone)
I’m no Bill Clinton apologist (have heard some things about him) but Monica Lewinsky owns the fact that she actively pursued that affair with Clinton. To try to make her into one of his victims when she wasn’t one is infantilizing. An imbalance of power all by itself isn’t enough to turn consensual sex between adults into victimization. She was 24. If the genders were reversed and a horny 24-year-old male who didn’t care about fidelity pursued an affair with a female higher-up, he wouldn’t be spoken of like a victim.
That doesn’t mean I’m on team ‘Let’s scarlet-letter Monica!’ either though. She was wrong to knowingly sleep with someone’s husband (provided that Bill and Hillary don’t secretly have some kind of arrangement they haven’t told us about), but Bill is mostly to blame with that. Especially since she’s not the only one he cheated with.
Cd3, no, Palestine is certainly no liberal haven, it is one part an open air prison (Gaza) and the other part slowly being taken over by illegal settlements. But please don’t let that stop you from making sarcastic comments while people are being forcibly dragged out of their houses.
Sam, yes to everything you just said. Especially when a 16 year old girl is locked up in an Israeli jail, awaiting trial in a military court. Where is the outrage for this? Americans need to wake up to the plight of the Palestinians and stop pretending our friend Israel can do no wrong.
They can grow and change but it shouldn’t be that Scarlett gets the benefit of that doubt while James Franco is denied it. Nobody died and left her boss of who gets to change or receive pins, so she needs to shut her mouth and quit wagging her finger — even IF she changed (which I haven’t seen any evidence of anyway).
Scarlett is really one of the worst offenders when it comes to “its cool when I do it”. The way she handled the questions about Dylan Farrow made Kate Winslet look good. “MY GOOGLE ALERTS!!!!” How irresponsible.
or like Dylan herself tweeted:
“At the risk of sounding “irresponsible,” it’s nice to see Scarlett Johansson taking a stand against sexual violence.”
https://twitter.com/RealDylanFarrow/status/955189600615567361
Not to mention her Soda Stream involvement and how she dealt with that. I’ve had enough of her.
I wish Scarlett only said sth for Dylan’s sake. Other than that, Kate W or SJ did not abuse anyone.
If Scarlett called out Franco, more power to her. And let’s face it, Allen isn’t gonna end up in jail. But we need to prevent that others don’t get that much power and be above the law.
What happened with Soda Stream?
Soda Stream plant was on the West Bank in Israel …on illegal settlements , she was called out for it, OXFAM asked her to choose because representing Soda Stream was everything they were against AND Scarjo was one of OXFAM spoke person then.
So Scarjo preferred to quit OXFAM and let them in the dirt instead of standing for the values she was representing for them… because “when she was a kid she was very poor and had to ride the public bus”…
This kind of choice to me paint a whole character: these people, the people who prefer paychecks to standing for strong values when needed, they never change.
She hasn’t changed. The movement is for once complying with her own agenda .BIG DIFFERENCE
TBF most Hollywood types only care about lining their own pockets. Scarlett’s just more obvious and less diplomatic about it.
You don’t know what contracts she’d signed with Sodastream though – you can’t just drop an ambassadorship when you feel like it.
@BordeMollie:
Yes sure. But just one had an actual falling out with OXFAM about it…
@Lex: she had the choice because her commitment to OXFAM was prior to SodaStream, the problem wasn’t that she was discovering what Sodasteam did and wanted out… She was just signing with them and decided to sign with them AND drop OXFAM… says a lot about her character…
This just goes on to show none of us are 100% good or bad or principled or unprincipled.
We are allies to some and enemies to some other.
Scar Jo contributes heavily to planned parentHood if I remember.
So should we cancel her?
I think we cannot expect any consistency from celebrities , just like politicians
Money and power always corrupt
I think the other issue (besides money and power corrupting) is that not believing is more of a problem area for public figures when it comes to rape culture than it is for regular people. With regular people, our bigger problem areas related to rape culture are victim-blaming and letting what’s considered ‘morality’ get in the way of empathy and equality.
It’s hard to find the right tone to say that some of this is going overboard. The March was not the time or place for this IMO. I was having a conversation with some coworkers about what is happening. And so many of us had the same thoughts. I don’t think women are giving ourselves the freedom and respect to disagree with some of what is happening in the wake of this. Change is messy. And there will be missteps along the way.
I feel like if you don’t stand with every action then you get attacked. Everyone has a right to make mistakes and move on..Men included. Some of this just feel off and I don’t like that. It just opens everyone up to attack.
+100
Nope, definitely don’t feel protective. She is a hypocrite and has been hugely problematic about a number of things. I mean, this is a woman who had an acrimonious parting of ways with Oxfam, for heaven’s sake.
Just because she does some things right (supporting PP), it doesn’t whitewash all the shit she does wrong. If that’s the standard we are applying, then we gotta apply it to everyone, including Franco etc – which, just…no. No, she doesn’t get a pass for being a woman who sometimes says and does the right thing.
I’m not interested in taking ANY woman ‘down’. I find no joy in it. But let’s call a spade a spade and a problematic person just that.
+1000
Yeah, as someone else pointed out, she’s part of a bandwagon, not a movement.
THANK YOU.
exactly.
Before I bash her to high heaven I want to hear her current thoughts on Woody Allen, not something from four years ago. Is she just as simpleminded and wrong as Kate Winslet or is she taking it back like Rebecca Hall and Chloe however you spell her last name?
I just need to say this: most sexual predators aren’t convicted of the crimes they commit, so I am not sure why people use this as a benchmark.
Lastly, I go back and forth on whether everyone knows about the pervs in hollywood. Maybe not all of the celebrities but their agents, especially the more seasoned agents, more than likely know or are aware of a lot of shit. So, either they are not telling their clients about the rumors and giving them the option to work with those directors or the agents don’t care and neith do the actors.
Eh I’m not going to stop calling out hypocrisy becuase the alt-right has something to say. She can grow but she deserves to have her record thrown out there. That comment wasn’t that long ago.
it wasn’t long ago AT ALL so that “she’s changed” pov does not stand.
I have been reading some of the comments on daily mail after Piers Morgan piece….i think alot of people are enjoying her being called out as she always came across as very arrogant and dismissive in her Woody/Dylan responses. Now she is publicly shaming similar people from a podium.
…and let’s not forget her fawning over Polanski who was proven guilty. Piers also brought that up. She is a hypocrite & cancelled in my book. I do not like being taken for stupid.
…I mean, I would like to know what she thinks of the WA situation today.
She’s full of it. Sorry, but I’m tired of people who only stand up for a cause when it’s beneficial to them. She felt protected as a Woody actress because everyone else was doing it too and not only that, but she verbalized her right to not believe the victim. That makes her an active part of the problem and gives her just as little right to wear a Times Up button as Franco.
Exactly… she has an awful track record… working with Allen, dismissing Dylan, Sodastream, Polanski, lying about Oxfam, Ghost in the Shell. Let’s not forget she called Dylan “irresponsible” because it messed with her Google Alerts. This is not a case where calling her for her hypocrisy is not unwarranted.
And this idea that “oh, poor Scarlet, mean people are coming for her, why can’t you let her grow”, is disingenuous. We can call out the alt-righters while also calling her out for what she has done and said especially when she’s putting herself in front of a women’s movement. Not unlike messy Lena Dunham. Alt-righters go for Dunham all the time but because we loath her, we suddenly don’t feel protective of Lena.
It’s one thing to have worked with Allen back when she was young and didn’t know better because it was a prestige thing and everyone was doing it but those comments from 2014 are fair game. She wasn’t an ingenue at that point, barely getting in Hollywood, she was at the top of career and she willfully dismissed a sexual abuse victim because she was inconvenienced by some online notification. I’m just saying that maybe it’d be better to let some other women speak in her place.
It gives her LESS of a right to wear one imo.
And wrt her constant racism that others are rightfully still pissed about: I saw a trailer last week for an upcoming stop motion film about Japanese dogs living in a landfill in Japan, and guess who is the voice of the lead female one? Miss Yellowface Johansson! AGAIN. After Ghost in the Shell and Lucy, a third time is a deliberate “f@ck you” to Asian women and everyone who has called her out for this racist ish.
i’m not an alt-right d-bag at all and i hate her. she’s just insufferable. i’ve disliked her ever since the drinks plant on west bank in israel. anyone remember that shitty shit she did??
she isn’t part of #metoo, she’s on a bandwagon.
Right? As I said above, if you’re falling out with Oxfam, of all organisations, you’re doing something pretty bloody wrong.
Yea, i kind of thought she was aloof before that, but way to pick your battles, ScarJo. That oxfam/sodastream thing was insane. I don’t think siding w a carbonated beverage company over human rights is really coming down on the right side of history.
I didn’t know the “alt right” hated her. Why?
Anyway, I am bothered by this particular hypocrisy, to be honest. I think it’s one of the problems we’ve been seen for a while with celebrity/activists. I think it’s great that they go up there and stand up for their beliefs, but when you have such glaring double standards you end up hurting the cause. So I think it’s a future lesson for all public figures, if they want publicly stand for something they will need to be consistent, otherwise it’s better if they do their activism in a quieter way.
I think there’s also the component of calling out someone for being hypocritical when you’re doing the same.
80 percent of Hollywood are hypocrites but they are allowed to evolve.
There are only a handful of Hollywood stars who aren’t hypocrites and stuck to their principles and didn’t work with those known predators nor supported them.
I plan to support those people as much as I can. Having said that, I won’t attack anyone who regrets working with these men and offered sincere apologies.
As I said yesterday, I am already over this: “Apologize!” “Apologize and donate! “You didn’t donate enough!” “You only donated because you feel guilty!”, narrative. She along with every other human is a hypocrite…and 1000% right to call out Franco.
We could just as easily ask Dylan Farrow why she won’t call out her mother’s support of Roman Polanski. I mean, that’s fair right? She’s calling out people she says worked with or supported someone she says is an abuser….so? Or Rose McGowan working with convicted pedophile Victor Salva? There are dozens of actual abusers yet to be weeded out (not to mention a system still in place) but now everyone spends their time calling out hypocrisy….but not everyone’s hypocrisy…because we are hypocrites. Sigh…we don’t have time for this.
I feel your frustration, and I’m right there with you.
Nice… Why not troll some abuse victims because they’re not perfect victims? People can acknowledge Rose’s messy behavior without giving Scarlett a free pass at the same time.
Bur what does Dylan have to do with whoever her mother decides to support? Does Dylan support Polanski? Criticize her mother all you want but it’s super offensive to call Dylan out for not throwing her mother under the bus. And by the way, last time I checked Scarlett didn’t seem too annoyed at sharing the same stage with Polanski back in 2014, at the Caesar Awards. #[some]whitefeministsaregross
To be fair Rose McGowan should be called out for that. It’s not just that they are weeding out abusers, Scarjo and Rose McGowan are presenting themselves as feminists leaders. They are presenting themselves as the voice of the movement. Feminist leaders need to be of impeccable character on issues like this. Scarjo has victim blamed a woman whom she never apologized too, just last year was praising a man who molested his daughter, has praised a man who raped a thirteen-year-old, and doesn’t give a damn about WOC. She needs to be told to get off the stage. It’s not fair at all that she gets to speak when she doesn’t speak for all women. There are plenty of women who could take Scarjo spot and not cause harm to the feminist movement. Having women like Scarjo up there on that stage takes away from the movement, there is a reason so many people for so long wouldn’t call themselves feminists and it was because of women like Scarjo being seen as leaders.
I sort of agree. I think it’s fair game to criticize and question actors who worked with Polanski and Allen At the same time, people are acting like Kate Winslet is responsible for Woody’s career and not Amazon film and his producers and his talent agency and it is all a little crazy. And there’s definitely a degree of hypocrisy-Jessica Chastain has been low key shading people for working with Polanski and Allen and yet she signed on to X-Men Dark Phoenix knowing that Bryan SInger was a producer.
Your comment and Rain’s both reminded me of another thing about this discussion that’s been coming up: The way women are being judged as innocent or guilty based on whether or not she has had a #MeToo story to share with the public.
If a famous woman was sexually assaulted and chooses to share that with the public, we believe her, she keeps her feminist card, and it’s wrong to ‘She Knew but did nothing!’ her over men in the industry she’s worked or associated with in the past. But if she wasn’t assaulted, or hasn’t shared it with the public, claims not to have known about the rapes, we do a complete 180, no nuance, and she doesn’t get to be an imperfect ally? (Oprah is the only exception I’ve seen to this rule so far. She’s the only woman who we know was a victim herself but who people still did the “She Knew and did nothing! Bad feminism!” thing with).
@Rainn: I agree that Dylan is not responsible for her mother. But Nicki Minaj was made responsible for her brother, and Jennifer Lawrence was dragged for Darren Aronofsky signing the Polanski petition years before they dated.
@Otaku Fairy: Last time I checked, Dylan’s mother didn’t rape anyone. You can drag Dylan’s mother for her defense of Polanski but why drag Dylan for what her mother chooses to do. Dylan had always been ostracized, why does she have to renege her own mother just so Scarlett’s hypocrisy be vindicated?
And let’s be real Jennifer Lawrence wasn’t crucified for what Aronfsky did. Meanwhile, in Nicky’s case, people were mad because she posted bail for him and saw that as an indirect defense of him. For my part, I don’t agree with dragging either Minaj or Lawrence if only because one doesn’t choose who their family is, nor are they responsible for what their brothers or spousals do.
In Scarlett’s case, she CHOSE to work with Allen on three different occasions and she CHOSE to admire him and defend him as recently as four years ago. She also called Dylan “irresponsible”. Scarlett’s situation is completely different from Dylan, Jennifer and Nicky.
Scarlett also chose to speak at the Women’s March and in doing so, she opened herself to critique. Especially when in the past, she had no problem throwing under the bus Palestinian and Asian / Asian-American women. Oh, she also ditched and lied about an NGO who does a lot of good work for women’s rights. Talk about mixed signals.
This isn’t about purity contests, but if you’re placing yourself in front of a women’s movement, you should at the very lead by example or own your past mistakes.
And now she gets her very own franchise so Scarlett is going to be alright. Too bad the same thing can be said for an Asian / Asian-American actress’ career. No wonder people are finding her performative feminism a tad shallow. #haveyou’recakeandeatitoo
I actually don’t find what she said in 2014 all that controversial? I mean, yeah, that one sentence is damning on its own. But weren’t we just yesterday applauding Alison Brie for basically the same answer about James Franco?
Scarlett clearly said that she doesn’t feel informed enough to comment on the Woody Allen situation. He’s a director she worked with – she’s not responsible for his actions and if she doesn’t want to comment that’s fair.
It feels like once more we are retroactively asking a woman on the lower end of the Hollywood food chain to have spearheaded a movement against a man who was protected by more powerful forces. In 2014 Harvey Weinstein and every single guy that fell last year were still in power. Now let’s all imagine what would have happened to Johannsen’s career if she had called Woody out publicly in that interview.
Hate to admit it because Scarlett bugs but you make a good point. As feminists we have to occasionally be better than the very women we’re advocating for.
Alison Brie’s situation is a bit different, as she’s not someone working with James Franco. She’s his sister in law at an award show for her own purposes. It’s unfair to ask her. Scarjo repeatedly worked with him, praised him, and ignored what Dylan Farrow said. She was praising him just last June. She was out going to lunch with him last year. Don’t tell me that isn’t hypocrisy.
Well, I personally am tired of dragging women over WHAT MEN HAVE DONE.
Scarlett rightfully called out James Franco. HE was the guy showing up at an awards show with the Time’s Up pin. I think her calling this out is a good thing considering he is in the running for awards THIS season and we just awarded a sexual harasser with an Oscar last year.
That is the topic I choose to focus on because she is right. James Franco should not be in the running for any awards this season and he certainly should not walk around with a Time’s Up pin until he has explained himself. I am tired of dismissing the message because the messenger might not be perfect.
She’s not wrong about James Franco, but the point is should Scarjo who is a white feminist be allowed to speak at these events. I don’t believe a woman who this time last year was telling Asian women to shut up should be allowed at these rallies. Her breed of feminism has no place in the movement.
We need to have strong leaders right now, and just ignoring the issue of how white women repeatedly get away with there crimes against WOC in the name feminism isn’t a good look.
I find this approach and your language utterly unhelpful.
1. You keep shifting the goal-posts here. You keep pulling receipt after receipt on this woman who just did what we keep asking women of privilege and power in the industry to do.
She got up and called out James Franco. He has not suffered any consequences. Neither has Woody.
Let’s focus on them.
2. ‘Allowing’ a white feminist to speak at a rally. Really? ‘Crimes against WOC’? Really?
Look up what white feminism is, it’s feminism which only favors white upper class, cis, straight, able body women. Scarjo has repeatedly made comments which make it clear she is in favor of that type of feminism. Whether it be from her telling Asian women to shut up, or her saying she’d support Donald Trump if he become pro-choice. She’s for white women, not all women. She shouldn’t be speaking at rallies which are supposed to be for all women.
Nah, we need to focus on the racism of white women in the feminist movement just as much. Their racism isn’t any better just because their woman, and they deserve to be called out for it. And yea really “crimes against WOC” telling WOC to shut up after being called out by them is a crime, not a legal one but a moral one. White women trying to silencing WOC when speaking out against white women is a crime.
It’s not shifting the goal post to point out that Scarjo as a woman who has victim blamed and told WOC to shut up shouldn’t be up on a stage which is suppose to be about empowering all women not just white women. The feminist movement has and probably always will have a problem with racist women being leaders. Going all the way back to the Suffrage movement, historically white women have oppressed POC just as much as white men have.
We need leaders who aren’t racist up on that stage.
Look, you have succesfully made your point about Scarlett Johannsen. You don’t like her and think she should shut up.
Well, I don’t think we can’t afford this kind of rethoric if we want to get anywhere as it successfully takes the focus off the men we are currently dealing with WHO ARE STILL NOT FACING ANY CONSEQUENCES.
Viola Davis and many more also spoke at that rally. We need every high profile voice and just the fact that Scarlett calling Franco out got this much coverage is proof that it works. It is really disappointing that the important part of the message is getting derailed by people like you who suddenly want to talk more about the woman calling him out than the actual problematic man.
That is successful shifting of goal-posts in my book and I think it helps no one.
Lol it helps no one to talk about how white women are racists who have repeatedly committed and gotten away with crimes against POC. Those discussions help no one right? Cause god forbid we point out white women aren’t all that. This is why WOC are least likely to claim the term feminist, the second you point out a white woman is racist and doesn’t deserve to be a leader white women ignore it.
It’s not about her shutting up, it’s that until her feminism includes all women, not just women like herself she shouldn’t be up on a stage promoting herself as a feminist leader. Until she apologizes for statements about WOC she shouldn’t be a leader it’s that simple.
White women are a problem too and always have been. White women don’t face consequences for there crimes against WOC. They never have. They have repeatedly committed crimes against POC and get away with it.
And what does Viola Davis have to do with this? Are you saying because they have a WOC up on the stage that feminism doesn’t have an issue with race. Because that’s not the case. Feminism has been highly linked to racism and always has been ignoring that by allow women like Scarjo to be seen as leaders isn’t a good thing.
BaronSamedi
Tell that to the white, educated women who voted for Trump in overwhelming numbers. Tell that to the white women on my fb feed who say Weinstein’s victims were shameless opportunists who got more than they bargained for. Tell that to women like Jessica Chastain who tell woc to have a seat. Tell that to Meryl Streep who defended the suffragette movement’s decision to shut out woc by claiming that “we’re all African”. Tell that to the white women who applauded Emma Watson when she questioned Beyonce’s claims to feminism because of the way she dresses.
I just can’t.
I just can’t.
Sorry, my comment won’t embed in the right place… but BaronSamedi, I don’t think Diligent Diva is dragging Scarlett for what men have done. She’s (rightfully) dragging Scarlett for what *she* has done–things already mentioned in comments here.
I’m still trying to process all of what’s been happening these last few years, but it seems to me that yeah, white women feminist leaders do need to be beyond reproach, due to the problematic history (past and ongoing) of WW in feminism. SJ does not fit that description, so she needs to take a seat. Maybe all WW feminist leaders need to take a seat, IDK.
If she is doing better maybe she knows better. That’s my hope so I won’t drag her.
Interestingly I was talking to a friend, a lifelong NYC West Ender, about why there’s a disconnect with some people about Allen, especially in NYC. Her answer was fascinating…
People are willing or able to sublimate their concerns because:
1) Allen has become an allegory of the awkward, brilliant, gentle, bespectacled, befuddled hero. Allegories don’t commit crimes, only people do.
2) Mia Farrow is the quintessential California flower child who is trying to drag the quintessential New York aging hipster through the mud, especially after Sinatra, NYC royalty, “finally saw through her” and divorced her. Farrow never achieved the same first lady status as Yoko Ono.
3) It must be anti-Semitism.
4) Previn was wise and mature for her years and poor Allen finally found a soulmate, so…(gag)
5) Over the years the anti-Farrow whisper campaigns have gone from rumor to carrying the weight of fact. When a person is told that Farrow was bragging about “lying” after too much champagne at a dinner party and someone whose ex-husband was there swears to it and that guy volunteers at your aunt’s women’s rights initiative and plays tennis with your yoga instructor…eventually new “facts” are formed.
This was interesting to me because it filled in some blanks for me. She assured me it would be a mistake to assume these actors simply want to advance their careers. A lot of people simply believe Allen. When I asked her if the same were true for Polanski she shook her head angrily. She said at one point it was considered pseudo-intellectual acting street cred to defend him but that absolutely no one actually believes he’s innocent.
Very interesting and thanks for sharing.
I can see it.
Again, cult of personality shields so many celebs from public scrutiny. Allen’s public persona as the dorky, neurotic and endearingly vulnerable caricature likely eclipsed his directorial skills many years ago and cemented itself in the public eye. It almost sounds like the public perception that you describe here is more rooted in habitual behavior that started in the 70s than it is in any reality. I bet these people haven’t even followed Allen’s scandal (to put it mildly) too closely, preferring to live in ignorant bliss.
Kitten
This. They pride themselves on it the way Brooklyn hipsters brag about not owning a television. Posturing at the expense of an inconvenient truth.
Things that make you go hmm…
Scarjo literally mentioned hanging out with Woody Allen pretty recently so no I don’t feel bad she’s getting called out. She defended him for ages and she is racist as hell. Self serving white feminist. Don’t feel sorry for her.
Why do you say that she is racist? I am curious.
@Renee2
Ghost in the Shell, and she said this during the promotion,
“Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive,” Johansson said. “Also, having a franchise with a female protagonist driving it is such a rare opportunity. Certainly, I feel the enormous pressure of that — the weight of such a big property on my shoulders.”
This comment is full of white feminism and racism. Also Scarjo was a supporter of Israel building on the West Bank, which harmed Palestinian women and she didn’t care about those women for some reason. Wonder why.
Diligent
Did I miss the racism? Is it me?
She was telling Asian women in that quote to shut up and be happy that white women get to have good movie roles, she was being criticized for taking a role from Asian women in Ghost of the Shell. Her response to the criticism was that disgusting quote.
She also said last year at the woman’s march she would support Donald Trump if he provided abortion rights, ignoring all the countless harm he is doing to WOC.
Her feminism is only included white upper class, cis, able body women. She’s a racist. Sure she’s not going around saying the n-word but her sublet acts racism is just as harmful.
ScarJo is an hypocrite and an asshole whose feminism does not seem to include WoC, especially Asian ones or Palestinian ones. She can go eff herself.
Scarlett is Jewish, and has spoken of how her bond to Israel is very strong. That is why she sides (unforgivably, in my eyes) w the Israeli right wing supported settlements, and why she is apparently anti-Palestinian. It *isn’t* b/c Palestinians are “WoC” that she opposes them. It’s b/c, like many (though far from all) Jews, she sides with the Israelis, over the rights of Palestinians.
IDK, she doesn’t seem like a fair or just, balanced person to me. She’s an opportunist, first and foremost, looking after herself before anyone else–including all other females–which is not an unusual personality trait among actors/entertainers. She’s ambitious, the embodiment of “movie star,” and she will walk over anyone, of any gender or race, to get the roles she wants. I don’t even think she’s consciously racist or offensive, just deeply self centered, able to compartmentalize such things as Allen’s alleged child molestation to the point where it simply doesn’t bother her–not enough to deter her from taking starring roles in his films. I had not heard of her interaction w Dylan, though—she actually had the nerve to even contact her? I don’t know the story; if someone could fill me in I’d appreciate it. Overall, I don’t think of her as a feminist at all, but someone who adheres to the patriarchal system, more or less—so long as it gives her what she wants. (In 10 years, 15, when the parts melt away, we shall see how she does; having apparently never allied other women, I doubt if many are going to have her back I
She is a revolting human being, one cannot be a conscientious person and side with the oppressor and then stand on a podium to fight for women’s rights. Is she mad?
Imperfect allies are better than imperfect predators.
Not everyone who calls themselves allies are actual allies. Sometimes the imperfect ally can inflict just as much if not more damage than the predator.
People should be open to criticism and be willing to change.
Urgh, she “wants her pin back” like she owns this cause. Mila Kunis snatched that microphone like her career depended on it. All I’m seeing is this issue being hijacked by hypocritical attention seekers and it’s quickly going to lose it’s original meaning and intent.
I honestly don’t care about her. What I do care about it the fact that there MUST be better faces for these marches, better women to give speeches. She’s worked with him THREE times. Come on. She’s had other questionable incidents. It doesn’t make her a horrible person and I’m not “cancelling” her but she also isn’t the best choice to speak at these events. It feels like she’s playing just another part.
A lot of people are just jumping on this bandwagon to get attention for them selves in hollywood it’s just the way i see it about her and a few others.
Ugh. She is an untalented, hypocritical, imbecile. The only movie I liked her in was The Horse Whisperer. I almost liked her in Ghost World but I’m gonna chalk that up to her being near the infinitely more talented Thora Birch.
Scarjo should leave these speeches for real feminists leaders. She has been repeatedly racist. Supporting her, is supporting white feminism plain and simple. White feminism is a cancer among feminism. The idea we should be okay with this racist victim blamer taking the stage acting like she’s some proud feminist is a problem. We need to stop supporting white women like her.
@DiligentDiva: setting aside all of her other VERY problematic statements, the Trump comment alone speaks volumes about her. She absolutely does not give a shit about any women except white women. And I am a white woman, and have never been able to stand her.
To be fair, she worked with WA before the exposè on him by Dylan and Ronan Farrow. Having said that, she made some really dumb comments later and I’m very very disappointed in her (as I generally like her). Sigh.
She did say something, she said Dylan Farrow was “irresponsible” for bringing this up back in 2014. Just last year she was out eating lunch with this man, she supports him. It’s very obvious she does.
Yeah, I didn’t know and changed my comment right after reading about it :/ . Very disappointed.
Sorry, everything she says annoys me. She is the worst and yes, this is totally hypocritical.
On one hand, Scarlett is problematic and hypocritical. On the other hand, I’m kind of disgusted that the focus on ending the career of predators has swerved to “cancelling” actresses that people don’t like who made the bad choice of working with Polanski/Singer/Allen/etc. Emma Stone, for example, has worked with Allen twice and played an Asian women, like Scarlett, but has faced 1/100th of the backlash and I don’t think it’s just due to not saying anything. Also, let’s be real—a lot of the people seem to be using this as an excuse to go overboard with criticism of women while letting men completely slide (I’ve heard not a peep about Hugh Jackman, Colin Farrell, Chiwetel Ejifor, Ewan McGregor, Leo DiCaprio, etc.) along with powerful film power players like Amazon and Sony Picture Classics. And in the long run, actresses, who can easily get a reputation for being difficult for something as simple as refusing to go nude in a film, have far less of an impact on Woody having a career as opposed to the powerful talent agencies like CAA and WME, the producers, actors, and studios.
Anyway, I think it’s possible to believe actors and actresses should apologize and questioned over working with Allen and yet recognize that there is a somewhat sexist, occasionally over the top slant to how women are covered in this type of situation. For example, excluding Lainey and Celebitchy, I’ve seen entertainment journalists on twitter be more critical of Blake Lively than Ben Affleck.
To be fair Emma’s not getting up on a stage demanding to be seen as a leader. The problem with Scarjo is in recent years she wants to be seen as a leader but has consistently proven she’s only white upper-class women.
‘I’m kind of disgusted that the focus on ending the career of predators has swerved to “cancelling” actresses that people don’t like who made the bad choice of working with Polanski/Singer/Allen/etc…. Also, let’s be real—a lot of the people seem to be using this as an excuse to go overboard with criticism of women while letting men completely slide… I think it’s possible to believe actors and actresses should apologize and questioned over working with Allen and yet recognize that there is a somewhat sexist, occasionally over the top slant to how women are covered in this type of situation.’
Agreed. If you already disliked a female celebrity to begin with because you thought she was overrated, a pampered princess, annoying, some thirsty loose (censored), just didn’t want her sitting at the feminist table for any of those reasons, or because she ‘made divisive comments’ about King Dump (for the repubs), it’s not some bold, progressive, noble sacrifice to shout ‘Cancelled! Forever! She knowed!’ because of Sex Predatorgate now. It just suits your agenda.
Well … she definitely slipped up which, honestly, is going to happen with a LOT of people as the #MeToo movement goes forward. But I can’t cancel her over it, especially not after her ‘Ivanka’ on SNL
How about the fact that Mila Kunis is standing next to her. Mila and Ashton still haven’t said anything about Danny Masterson, have they?
Ashton is producing a show with masterson (they both produce and act on it). It’s called “the ranch”
I have always given major side eye to Johansson. She has said some pretty crappy and problematic things about Palestinians, and white-washing of roles written for POC. I do find it interesting how she feels comfortable calling Franco out in a speech but hasn’t said a peep about Allen. And I honestly don’t think she will. She is friends with him. And much like Lena Dunham her friends get a pass. She IS a hypocrite.
She is has revolting morals, her involvement taints the movement.
I don’t know what to think about ScarJo. I go back and forth on her.
She’s such an average actress.
I feel like if the #MeToo moment is going to be sustained, this is the moment we need to get men in on it. Not just flapping their gums matt damon style, but really listening and talking about the mistakes they have made and how to move forward as humans. How to talk to their sons about treating women, how to talk to their friends when their friend is about to be a sexual predator. How to approach NOT continuing to be of the- awesome my boy is getting laid- and actually step in- and say NO- you don’t have sex with the almost passed out woman. No, you don’t flirt in a fucking business meeting. No, you don’t sleep with subordinates at your office, and in general, stop being gross.
This part of our conversation is missing, and this movement can’t be successful, in the long run, without it.
I don’t know..I don’t think men really need a seat at our table for this one.
Since this movement started I’ve noticed a lot of men posting articles on FB that essentially aim to kneecap the movement with a heading like “Thoughts? I’m here to read opposing opinions..” only to have them liking and supporting every comment from a woman (or man) that validates their pre-existing notion about male-female dynamics. I think a lot of men are latching on to the movement in order to 1) get cookies for being a feminist or 2) get confirmation from us that what they did in the past was ok.
It’s all so self-serving and performative and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Personally, I don’t need men admitting to past transgressions. But I DO need them schooling each other when there are no women in the room, no women to back them up or give them their rewards for being one of the “good guys”. I think that’s how men can best serve this movement: educating fellow menfolk.
While ScarJo is not an actress I particularly care for and she is problematic in so many ways I think someone can support something and still be ignorant on certain things. She has proven that she is imperfect and that she has a lot of room to grow, educate herself. I do think a better voice during this rally could have been found but she was chosen and what she said is not wrong. Also the expectation is there are no perfect victims, which is true, then I think it is time to remember there are no perfect supporters. So many people have grown and gained knowledge to be where we are today but I am positive that not all of the movement supporters are perfect. Call them out on their hypocrisy but that doesn’t mean that the things they are aware of and speaking out on are wrong. Human beings are so good at seeing the flaws in others but don’t remember to look at themselves with the same expectations.
I love how celebs can pick and choose who to hate, depending on if it will impact their paycheck. I’m over her and find her annoying.
I feel so bad for Dylan in all this. She has been screaming for years trying to tell people about the monster that is her father….and nobody cared. I care and I believe you Dylan.
Why should we gibe her a chance to change her views on WA now? Its still beneficial for her her to speak out, just as it was when she was his supporter. Now all these celebs want to abandon the burning ship because they know it is going to come back and bite them in their hypocritical a*ses. Too little too late.
If you choose a leadership position, you’re going to have to accept that you will be criticized for inconsistent words and actions. There’s really no shielding yourself from that. So that’s how I look at the ScarJo situation. I think she’s said she’s open to running for political office, and if she ever chooses to run, an analysis of her words is something she will have to contend with. She might as well get used to it if that’s her future path.
Yeah, she’s been at this long enough, and has courted enough controversy and criticism in her acting career to have the foresight to get in front of this and address/acknowledge her ongoing relationship, admiration, and defense of Allen in this climate.
She needs to make a statement about Woody Allen and where she stands on that. You can’t be one thing and not the other ScarJo.
I bet if you asked her the same questions about Woody Allen now she would have a new and more woke perspective, otherwise I don’t know how she could stand up there and say anything about creepy James Franco. I for one am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt
I think we all have to make our own judgements. Every accusation from every woman is not necessarily true. Women should be heard and in the context of this understanding people finally have about how prevalent sexual misconduct – particularly in the workplace with men holding power – is, their claims should be taken seriously. But, I find the Franco stuff to be true because it rings true. Various people have claims and the context seems true to me. But while I think Woody Allen is gross and of course marrying his wife’s young daughter, the affair, etc., is disgusting and can be seen for sure as a power dynamic, Dylan’s story is impossible for me to swallow. It is simply irrational to think he would have done this one time and done it at the particular time and in the particular way she describes. I don’t think she’s lying; I think her mom, understandably hurt and suspicious, fed/coached her and now it is her reality. ScarJo and hypocrasy – of course…
I have to say I can’t believe how many publicists are falling down on their jobs with these celebs making such statements that look like utter tools. Did NO ONE on SJ’s team pause to think “huh, well let’s see here, our client had the starring role in not one but 3 Allen films… Allen has been dogged by allegations for years… the political tide has turned to actually believing women now over institutional white men… SJ’s gonna make public statements about Franco? Yup, we’re all good!”
I mean, what a bunch of hacks. This bugs me because now instead of focusing on the important part – *the Time’s Up movement* – the focus in SJ, her career, past roles, comments, etc.
Sorry to hijak, but could someone post a link about the real deal with Palestine and Israel?
Can we please not forget her interactions with COVICTED CHILD RAPIST Roman Polanski? She is the definition of hypocrite. The minute the people in Hollywood stop working with Woody Allen is when I take them seriously. It seems they pick and choose their outrage and who to believe.
Yea among her Sodastream cash grab, whitesplaining Ghost in the Shell with but feminism, and now her hypocrisy over the TimesUp campaign. She’s been canceled just for the first two.
Dylan Farrow just dragged Justin Timberlake in a tweet… I’m a definitely here for this tea being served
show biz kids…
This is the same hypocrite who dropped Oxfam for Sodastream who have a factory on an illegal settlement in the West Bank. She also supported Allen who was accused of molestation by his daughter. She can kindly F Off.
Hypocrisy, not only her but all that has come to accuse without evidence just to look good. my applause to Natalie Portman she knew how to make sense of the women´s march.
Um…why can’t she hold the microphone herself? Just asking…