Scarlett Johansson Opens Up About the Pain and Triumph of Disney Legal Battle Over ‘Black Widow’ and Wes Anderson’s ‘Liberating’ Cannes Film
variety.comTwo months later, around the same time Cosmo was cracking his first smiles, Johansson and Disney settled the suit. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Johansson’s payout reportedly eclipsed $40 million.
In the history of Hollywood, the stars who have successfully sued studios are few and mostly men, from Burt Lancaster to Kevin Costner to Sylvester Stallone, with Olivia de Havilland and Elizabeth Taylor being rare exceptions. (Taylor took Fox to court in 1964 for not being properly paid for “Cleopatra,” and settled for $7 million — or roughly $60 million in today’s dollars.) But Johansson became the first high-profile star to stare down a behemoth in the streaming era, and her suit continues to reverberate in Hollywood and beyond as deep-pocketed corporations use the cover of the pandemic to squeeze employees.
In some ways, the battle between Johansson and the media giant offers a precursor to the writers strike now roiling the industry. “I couldn’t even walk through a restaurant without somebody saying, ‘Good for you.
Stand up for yourself,’” she says. “I could see that it had a bigger impact. I got support from strangers that have no skin in the game at all.” Miraculously, any bad blood between Disney and Johansson has dissipated.
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