In what may be the most high profile lawsuit between a movie star and a studio in Hollywood history, Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney for breaching her contractual payment structure on Marvel’s Black Widow.

Like many stars, Johansson has a series of bonuses built into her contract based on how much money the film earns at the box office, but when Disney chose to release the film simultaneously in theaters and via Premiere Access on Disney+, they cut into the potential box office profits for the film, leading to a smaller payday for Johansson.

Time’s Up, ReFrame, and Women in Film have issued a joint statement regarding Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney over their breach of contract with the Black Widow release.The statement reads, “While we take no position on the business issues in the litigation between Scarlett Johansson and The Walt Disney Company, we stand firmly against Disney’s recent statement which attempts to characterize Johansson as insensitive or selfish for defending her contractual business rights.

Johansson of being insensitive to the global COVID pandemic, in an attempt to make her appear to be someone they and I know she isn’t.” He added, “The company included her salary in their press statement in an attempt to weaponize her success as an artist and businesswoman, as if that were something she should be ashamed of, … Scarlett is extremely proud of the work that she, and all of the actors, writers, directors, producers, and the Marvel creative team have been a part of for well over a decade.”.

And he’s not wrong: Johansson has appeared in nine Marvel movies as a core member of the Avengers, a franchise that has earned Disney billions of dollars.

Disney was betting that Scarlett Johansson’s problematic history, coupled with the rampant misogyny we see aimed at successful women to somehow shame her into accepting a subpar offer?

But Johansson is part of high tier of successful actors who don’t need Disney or their subsidiaries?