Scarlett Johansson has continued to stand by Woody Allen after controversially defending the director.
Stars including Colin Firth, Timothée Chalamet and Greta Gerwig have distanced themselves from Allen over accusations of sexual misconduct made by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow.
Allen has always denied the allegations, which have been investigated twice but no charges have ever been brought.
In September, 35-year-old Johansson said that she “believe[s]” the director and said she would work with him again “any time,” having previously collaborated with him on Match Point, Scoop and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Johansson doubled down on her support for Allen, which she said is based on her “experience” and “close proximity” with the director.
“I feel the way I feel about it,” she told the magazine. “It’s my experience. I don’t know any more than any other person knows.
“I only have a close proximity with Woody… he’s a friend of mine. But I have no other insight other than my relationship with him.”
She added that she “can’t lie about the way [she] feel[s] about things” and said that she doesn’t “want to have to edit [her]self” even though it may make her feel “more vulnerable.”
Johansson conceded that her support for Allen may be “triggering for some people” but suggested that her stance does not preclude her from supporting women.
“I do understand how that is triggering for some people,” she said. “But just because I believe my friend does not mean that I don’t support women, believe women.
“I think you have to take it on a case-by-case basis. You can’t have this blanket statement—I don’t believe that. But that’s my personal belief. That’s how I feel.”
The actress also admitted that she “mishandled” the backlash to her casting as a transgender man in a planned true crime film titled Rub and Tug, which was announced in 2018.
After social media users and transgender actors called her out for joining the project, a response from Johansson’s representative did little to quell the outrage.
Johansson ‘s spokesperson invited media outlets to contact “Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment” in reference to other cisgender actors who have played trans characters.
She later backtracked on the remarks and confirmed that she had “respectfully withdrawn” from the project.
Discussing the furore with Vanity Fair, she said that she was “uneducated” when she signed up to the film.
“In hindsight, I mishandled that situation. I was not sensitive, my initial reaction to it,” she admitted.
“I wasn’t totally aware of how the trans community felt about those three actors playing—and how they felt in general about cis actors playing—transgender people. I wasn’t aware of that conversation—I was uneducated.
“So I learned a lot through that process. I misjudged that…. It was a hard time. It was like a whirlwind. I felt terribly about it. To feel like you’re kind of tone-deaf to something is not a good feeling.”
Read the full interview in Vanity Fair’s awards special issue.
