Disney's Brutal Response to Scarlett Johansson Suggests Ugly Legal Fight - Newsweek

Disney's response to Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit over Black Widow's streaming release has fans predicting an ugly legal fight between the actress and House of Mouse.

The latest Marvel blockbuster has not been performing well after a successful first weekend at the box office and Johansson is taking Disney to court over it.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Johansson's legal team alleges that the star's contract was breached when the studio streamed the movie at the same time as its theater release.

Johansson's attorneys say that this affected ticket sales for the movie's theatrical release, thus impacting the star's compensation which they say was tied to Black Widow's box office performance.

"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 reads, per Variety.

The film premiered simultaneously on Disney+, for $30, and in theatres earlier in July.

Despite setting a box office record for releases during the pandemic, grossing $218 million in its first weekend and pulling $60 million on the streamer, ticket sales then subsequently sharply declined.

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff in "Black Widow." Disney

The film is currently grossing $319 million globally—putting it on the path to end up being one of the lowest-grossing Marvel movies ever.

Johansson's attorney, John Berlinski of Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, said in a statement: "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."

Disney responded with a brutal statement, labeling Johansson's lawsuit "distressing"— suggesting the studio has no intention of backing down.

"There is no merit whatsoever to this filing," Disney said in an uncharacteristically blunt statement. "The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic."

The Disney spokesperson continued, per Deadline: "Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson's contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date."

The response from Disney has shocked many people, with some criticizing the studio on social media.

"If Disney can do this to Scarlett Johansson—a Big Name—imagine what they're able to do to creators/actors with a lot less power and money," tweeted film producer Mallory Yu. "There are implications to this breach of contract beyond ScarJo herself, or even the convenience (& safety) of home streaming."

If Disney can do this to Scarlett Johansson - a Big Name - imagine what they're able to do to creators/actors with a lot less power and money.

There are implications to this breach of contract beyond ScarJo herself, or even the convenience (& safety) of home streaming. https://t.co/J09wuO5ZfB

— Mallory Yu (@mallory_yu) July 29, 2021

She added: "As has been pointed out: media corporations like Disney have a long history of contracts that prioritize corporate profits over creator equity. Demand for streaming options isn't going away, so what effects will this case have on future/current contract negotiations?"

While another Twitter account, that focuses on legal content tweeted: "when someone says you breached a contract and you start talking about global pandemics you 100% breached that contract."

when someone says you breached a contract and you start talking about global pandemics you 100% breached that contract https://t.co/eXhc1Jz6OF

— Law Boy, Esq. (@The_Law_Boy) July 29, 2021

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Amanda Knox blasts Matt Damon flick ‘Stillwater,’ claims it’s cashing in on her wrongful conviction - Fox News

Amanda Knox lashed out at the new Matt Damon film "Stillwater" — claiming the movie profits off her real-life struggle for a wrongful murder conviction.

The 34-year-old lamented how her name continues to be associated with a killing she didn’t commit – and is now linked to a film she had no part in making.

"Does my name belong to me?" she wrote in a Thursday tweet storm. "My face? What about my life? My story? Why does my name refer to events I had no hand in? I return to these questions because others continue to profit off my name, face & story without my consent. Most recently, the film #STILLWATER"

Knox also took issue with the fictionalized character she now feels associated with because the film’s ending veers from actual events in a sinister twist.

MATT DAMON'S ‘STILLWATER’ BANKING ON THEATERS-ONLY RELEASE

Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were twice convicted and later acquitted in the 2007 killing of Knox’s roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy. Although "Stillwater" largely fictionalizes the case, director Tom McCarthy has said Knox’s case inspired the storyline and reviews and promos of the film have noted the premises’ similarity to what happened to Knox.

The exoneree took issue with a Vanity Fair article that referred to the case as "the Amanda Knox saga."

"I want to pause right here on that phrase: ‘the Amanda Knox saga,’" Knox said. "What does that refer to? Does it refer to anything I did? No."

"It refers to the events that resulted from the murder of Meredith Kercher by a burglar named Rudy Guede," she went on.

"It refers to the shoddy police work, prosecutorial tunnel vision, and refusal to admit their mistakes that led the Italian authorities to wrongfully convict me, twice. In those four years of wrongful imprisonment and 8 years of trial, I had near-zero agency.

Amanda Knox attends a cocktail for the opening of the Innocence Project conference, in Modena, Italy, Thursday, June 13, 2019. (Associated Press)

Knox shared a headline from The Post that read "Man who killed Amanda Knox’s roommate freed on community service" as an example of how her name continues to be tied to the killing.

"I would love nothing more than for people to refer to the events in Perugia as ‘The murder of Meredith Kercher by Rudy Guede,’ which would place me as the peripheral figure I should have been, the innocent roommate," she said.

"But I know that my wrongful conviction, and subsequent trials, became the story that people obsessed over," she went on. "I know they’re going to call it the ‘Amanda Knox saga’ into the future."

She then requested that people be conscious of how they discuss the events – and recognize that it’s not her choice that the focus remains on her.

The exoneree also challenged director McCarthy and star Matt Damon to join her on her podcast "Labyrinths."

The character in "Stillwater" is shown to have a sexual relationship with her roommate, while Knox said she was "nothing but platonic friends’ with Meredith, she said. And the movie’s finale paints the character as "the tabloid conspiracy" guiltier version of Knox, she said.

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"By fictionalizing away my innocence, my total lack of involvement, by erasing the role of the authorities in my wrongful conviction, McCarthy reinforces an image of me as a guilty and untrustworthy person," she said.

"I have not been allowed to return to the relative anonymity I had before Perugia," Knox said.

"My only option is to sit idly by while others continue to distort my character, or fight to restore my good reputation that was wrongfully destroyed."

A spokesperson for Focus Features couldn’t be reached Thursday night. The Post has reached out to Damon’s publicist for comment.

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'The Green Knight' review: Dev Patel wows in a gorgeous fantasy - New York Post

As far as King Arthur films go, “The Green Knight” has a lot more in common with “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” than most newer, high-energy takes, such as Guy Ritchie’s “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.”

Running time: 125 minutes. Rated R (violence, some sexuality and graphic nudity.) In theaters.

That’s not to say there are shrubberies, coconuts and Tim Curry, but there is almost no action in this movie. No long, swashbuckling sword fights. No fast-paced chases on horseback. The score is medieval — think lutes and harps — not modern. The journey of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), one of the Knights of the Round Table, is a quest in the most pastoral sense. 

And damn is director David Lowery’s forrest-filled movie beautiful to look at.

Dev Patel goes on a quest to meet his maker in “The Green Knight.”

Courtesy Everett Collection

This telling of the tale sees the young Gawain desperate to become one of King Arthur’s brave soldiers. In a bold move, although we meet Arthur, Queen Guinevere and Morgan le Fay, their names are never uttered. This is the Gawain Show.

During a Christmas feast, a fearsome warrior on horseback called the Green Knight, who looks like the not-so-Jolly Green Giant, stomps in and challenges any man to a little game. If his opponent can strike him with their sword, they will meet again in a year where he will return the favor.

Gawain, wanting to be seen as brave and honorable by the king, accepts the invitation and chops off his head. A year later, he journeys to the Green Chapel to accept his fate.

It’s a simple story that could easily be told in 20 minutes. So, Lowery fleshes it out, not with monologues or layered backstory, but with breathtaking imagery.

Fog sweeping across a corpse-strewn battlefield, giants marching through mountains, the severed head of a girl becoming a fleshless skull, a sinister blindfolded woman — they all lodge themselves in your mind.

The frightening Green Knight challenges Gawain (Dev Patel) to a game.

Courtesy Everett Collection

The film seizes Lowery’s best skills as a director: his eye for innocence and nature (“Pete’s Dragon”) and how he uses slowness to deepen a story (“The Old Man and the Gun”). That said, “The Green Knight” is a bit long for what it is, but at least it’s time spent in the company of the excellent Dev Patel.

The 31-year-old actor has been segueing, quite seamlessly and brilliantly, into classical roles. His vulnerable, determined, nervous Sir Gawain comes on the hooves of his ebullient Dickensian hero in “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” which was also a joy to watch.

Patel is an actor who can do just about anything. I’m shocked Marvel hasn’t come banging down his door.

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Disney Hits Back at Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow Lawsuit: There Is No Merit Whatsoever - MovieWeb

If Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit against Disney over the studio's dual release of Black Widow in theaters and on Disney+ simultaneously hasn't caused enough fuss on its own, the corporation has fired back a scathing response, in which they branded the actress "callous" and even went to the unprecedented lengths of revealing just how much money the actress has made from the movie to make their point.

In the lawsuit filed today, Johansson made the claim that the release of the movie on Disney+ breached her contract and caused a loss of theatrical revenue that she would have received if the movie had been released only in cinemas.

RELATED: Disney Gets Sued by Scarlett Johansson Over Black Widow Disney+ Streaming Release

A spokes person for the Walt Disney Company said, "There is no merit whatsoever to this filing. The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson's contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date."

The simultaneous release of Black Widow on Disney+ Premier Access was the biggest Disney release to use the day and date strategy, although it was not alone in doing so, with Warner Bros. allowing many of their big films such as Godzilla vs Kong streaming on HBO Max for a rental fee from the same date as the movie launched in cinemas. The necessity to allow people to rent movies at home rather than being forced to go to the theater was born from a public trepidation over returning to the confines of a cinema screen while the Covid pandemic continued to rage across the world.

The lawsuit claims that Disney used the movie to build their streaming service subscriber numbers and give its stock price a boost coming out of the pandemic, but it goes on to say that the company's move is at the expense of Scarlett Johansson whose "compensation would largely be based on box office receipts". It went on to say that the actress has been given a promise that the movie would be a theatrical release, which has been broken.

In a statement, Johansson's lawyer, John Berlinski, 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."

With Disney coming out fighting and going on record to disclose that actress' $20 million paycheck so far, a move that is usually unheard of in the secretive world of moviemaking, it is clear that the House of Mouse will not be taking this one lying down. This news arrives via Deadline.

Topics: Black Widow, Disney, Disney Plus

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DaBaby Fires Back at Questlove, Says He Doesn't Know Who Quest Is - XXLMAG.COM

DaBaby isn't letting up.

The "Rockstar" rapper has responded to Questlove in a series of Instagram Stories. "I ain't even tryna be funny when I say... I do not know who dis n***a is dawg," he wrote. "And I do not care bout losing you as a fan my boy lol @questlove. You or any other n***a who wanna play follow the leader. This superstar was a fan of is stand up n***a, yeen never seen one of these huh?"

Last night (July 28), Questlove made a statement on Instagram condemning DaBaby for his homophobic comments during his set at Rolling Loud Miami this past weekend. The Roots cofounder posted a screenshot that showed a list of artists—The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, The Isley Brothers, Rihanna, Sade, Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, Hiatus Kaiyote, Sault—but Baby's name was scribbled out.

"I was hypothetically asked if I was curating an updated version of #SummerOfSoul who would be my acts? I gave my dream list," he wrote. "And now I’m updating my list—because it’s 2021 and fuck the bullshit. I’m especially not here for any savagery (if you’re lost: Google the idiocy of the crossed out)."

DaBaby posted two more Instagram Stories after his direct response to Quest. "These n****s really think they gone influence people to stop fuckin w/ the influence," he wrote on the next slide. "They go crazy bout what I say not yall. I got the influence and the nuts n***a. Y'all n****s cheerleaders." You can see all three slides below.

This all comes after numerous artists have come out against DaBaby, including Dua Lipa and Elton John, among others. Baby initially defended his comments, but doubled down and has since continued to do so.

These Tone-Deaf Hip-Hop Moments Prove Rappers Can Get Hit With Serious Backlash

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Amanda Knox slams 'Stillwater' movie in powerful essay - CNBC

In this article

• CMCSA

US journalist Amanda Knox addresses a panel discussion titled "Trial by Media" during the Criminal Justice Festival at the Law University of Modena, northern Italy on June 15, 2019.

VINCENZO PINTO | AFP | Getty Images

Amanda Knox is speaking out against the new Matt Damon film "Stillwater."

The journalist, who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher and later acquitted of the crime, took to Twitter on Thursday to lambast the film's director Tom McCarthy as well as the media for linking her name to the project.

"Does my name belong to me? My face? What about my life? My story? Why does my name refer to events I had no hand in? I return to these questions because others continue to profit off my name, face, & story without my consent," she wrote in the first of a series of tweets.

Knox's Twitter thread, which is also posted as an essay on Medium, went on to address sexism, the erasure of victims and her treatment in the press and in popular culture over the last 14 years.

Since debuting at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, "Stillwater" has received mixed reviews from critics and stirred up debate about how much it may have been inspired by Knox's own experience.

In interviews, McCarthy has maintained that the story is completely fictionalized and told Cleveland.com "there's no similarity in our two stories beyond an American student in jail."

In McCarthy's film Damon plays Bill Baker, an oil rig worker from Oklahoma who travels to Marseille, France after his estranged daughter Allison (Abigail Breslin) is imprisoned for a murder she didn't commit. Eager to prove his daughter's innocence, Bill takes matters into his own hands, but comes up against language barriers and a complicated legal system.

The director told Vanity Fair that after hearing about Knox, he couldn't help but imagine what it would feel like to be in her shoes. He also said he wanted to explore what it would be like for those closest to her to endure that kind of tragedy.

Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin attend the "Stillwater" New York Premiere at Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center on July 26, 2021 in New York City.

Michael Loccisano | WireImage | Getty Images

Knox said that "Stillwater," which premieres Friday in the U.S. and Canada, is "by no means the first" to "rip off" her story without consent and at the expense of her reputation.

The ending of the film differs greatly from the actual events of Knox's acquittal, she said. In the film, Allison is revealed to have asked the killer to help get rid of her roommate. While she didn't intend for him to kill her, her request indirectly led to the murder.

"How do you think that impacts my reputation?" Knox wrote. "By fictionalizing away my innocence, my total lack of involvement, by erasing the role of the authorities in my wrongful conviction, McCarthy reinforces an image of me as a guilty and untrustworthy person."

Knox said that McCarthy and Damon had "no moral obligation" to consult her about the fictional story, but said she and her family would have had a lot to tell the director if he had reached out to them.

Knox went on to talk about how Kercher, the victim, has largely been erased from the narrative as is her killer Rudy Guede. She pointed to a recent New York Post headline about Guede's release from prison which said "Man who killed Amanda Knox's roommate freed on community service."

"I want to pause right here on that phrase: 'the Amanda Knox saga,'" Knox wrote. "What does that refer to? Does it refer to anything I did? No."

After all, as Knox points out, her story is not "about an American woman studying abroad 'involved in some kind of sensational crime.' It's about an American woman not involved in a sensational crime, and yet wrongfully convicted."

Representatives from Universal, which distributes the film, did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Read Amanda Knox's full essay here.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal distributed "Stillwater."

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Disney Fires Back at Scarlett Johansson, Calls ‘Black Widow’ Lawsuit ‘Sad and Distressing’ - Variety

The Walt Disney Company clapped back at “Black Widow” star Scarlett Johansson, slamming the actress’ breach of contract lawsuit for showing “callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In a court filing on Thursday, Johansson said Disney’s decision to send the Marvel movie to Disney Plus at the same time it was released in theaters cost her millions of dollars in backend compensation. Those bonuses were tied to hitting box office benchmarks that “Black Widow” likely won’t achieve. Disney is countering that it complied with the terms of Johansson’s deal to star in the Avengers spinoff film.

“There is no merit whatsoever to this filing,” Disney said in an unusually fiery statement. “The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The company went on to state that the star has already received $20 million for her work and argued that “the release of ‘Black Widow’ on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date.” Disney did not provide any information about whether or not Johansson’s pact was renegotiated so that she could share in streaming rental revenue.

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In March, Disney announced that “Black Widow” and several of its 2021 films such as “Cruella” and “Jungle Cruise” would premiere on the studio’s subscription-based streaming service at the same time they hit theaters. Those movies were made available for a $30 rental fee to Disney Plus subscribers. The studio positioned the move as a concession to the damage COVID-19 had inflicted on the theatrical distribution landscape.

On July 9, “Black Widow” set a pandemic-era box office record with a $80 million in North America. It earned an additional $78 million overseas and $60 million on Disney Plus. Despite those impressive numbers, ticket sales steeply declined in subsequent weeks and the pic’s gross currently stands at $319 million globally. Given that many Marvel movies top $1 billion at the worldwide box office, “Black Widow” is on pace to become one of the company’s lowest-grossing releases.

“It’s no secret that Disney is releasing films like ‘Black Widow’ directly onto Disney Plus 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,” John Berlinski, an attorney for Johansson, said in a statement to Variety. “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.”

As Berlinski suggests, Johansson’s lawsuit could impact the way that movie stars are compensated in the streaming era and may inspire a wave of fresh legal action by actors upset that their films are not exclusively debuting in theaters.

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