“Just like what we’ve done many times before, we’ve found ways to fairly compensate our talent so that, no matter what, everyone feels satisfied,” he said.
Chapek’s comments come two weeks after Johansson—who has remained a mainstay in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since “Iron Man” 2010—filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging Disney breached her contract when it released “Black Widow” on Disney Plus at the same time that it was released in movie theaters.
In the lawsuit obtained by a popular weekly entertainment magazine, Johansson said her “Black Widow” contract with Disney’s Marvel Entertainment was for a guaranteed exclusive theatrical release, with the bulk of her salary depending in large part on the film’s box-office performance.
“There is no merit whatsoever to this filing,” a Disney spokesperson for the company said in a statement after the suit was made public.
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 Johansson’s contract, and the release of ‘Black Widow’ on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20 million she has received to date,” the statement said.
John Berlinski, the Marvel star’s attorney, 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,” he said.
Disney also faced backlash from Johansson’s agent, Bryan Lourd, and multiple women’s groups in Hollywood, such as Time’s Up, ReFrame, and Women in Film, Los Angeles, who called the company’s response to the actor’s lawsuit “a gendered character attack.”
(With inputs from ANI)
Edited by Amrita Das and Krishna Kakani
