‘Black Widow’ Star Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney Over Film’s Streaming Release

Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over the company’s decision to release “Black Widow” on Disney+ at the same time as the film’s theatrical release.

The suit, reviewed by TheWrap, says the actress is alleging breach of contract in the lawsuit filed on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

“Disney intentionally induced Marvel’s breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel,” the suit said.

“It’s no secret that Disney is releasing films like ‘Black Widow’ directly onto Disney+ to increase subscribers and thereby boost the company’s stock price – and that it’s hiding behind Covid-19 as a pretext to do so. But ignoring the contracts of the artists responsible for the success of its films in furtherance of this short-sighted strategy violates their rights and we look forward to proving as much in court. This will surely not be the last case where Hollywood talent stands up to Disney and makes it clear that, whatever the company may pretend, it has a legal obligation to honor its contracts,” John Berlinski, attorney for Scarlett Johansson, said in a statement to TheWrap.

Johansson is seeking both punitive and monetary damages, and a trial by jury.

A spokesperson for both Johansson and Disney has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

More to come…

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.