We told you this situation was only going to get nastier!
Earlier today, it came to light that Disney has filed a motion demanding that Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow suit be moved to arbitration, and the actress (via her lawyer John Berlinski) has now fired back.
“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,” reads the statement. “Why is Disney so afraid of litigating this case in public? Because it knows that Marvel’s promises to give Black Widow a typical theatrical release ‘like its other films’ had everything to do with guaranteeing that Disney wouldn’t cannibalize box office receipts in order to boost Disney+ subscriptions.
Yet that is exactly what happened – and we look forward to presenting the overwhelming evidence that proves it.”
Johansson's lawsuit alleges that her contract was breached when the Marvel Studios movie was released on Disney+ and in theaters at the same time. Apparently, Black Widow had been guaranteed an exclusive theatrical release when the Academy Award-nominee signed on to reprise the role of Natasha Romanoff, and she is now claiming that Disney was aware that making the movie available to stream would dissuade theatre attendance, but "did so anyway, knowingly and intentionally."
However, Disney maintains that the film fulfilled its obligations by playing on more than 9,000 screens in the U.S. and has earned $367M+ at the worldwide box office along with $125M+ on streaming, bringing its collective haul to almost $500M.
Will The Mouse House succeed in moving the case away from the public eye? We'll keep you posted.