Scarlett Johansson stirs up controversy after defending Woody Allen

Scarlett Johansson recently came out adamantly defending the embattled film director, Woody Allen. "I love Woody. I believe him, and I would work with him anytime," the Tony Award-winning actress said. Allen – widely recognised as one of the greatest film-makers of his generation – has been recently under intense scrutiny following allegations of sexual abuse, which were made by his stepdaughter, Dylan Farrow.

Johansson’s defence of such a polarising figure makes sense. She knows Woody Allen very well. In the early aughts, Johansson starred in a number of Allen’s biggest films: think Match Point, Scoop, and Vicky Christina Barcelona. It was these ventures that propelled Johansson from the lesser-known actress pool to the A-list. Nowadays, the two are close friends and still work together. She went on to say,"I see Woody whenever I can, and I have had a lot of conversations with him about it."

In response, Johansson’s defence of Allen has been described as hypocritical, given her strong ties to the Time’s Up anti-harassment movement, which seeks to combat workplace sexual harassment specifically within the creative industry. On that theme, Johansson had this to say: "Things needed to be stirred up, and so people have a lot of passion and a lot of strong feelings and are angry, and rightfully so. It's an intense time."

A number of Allen’s other former work colleagues, including Timothee Chalamet and Greta Gerwig, have expressed regret about working with the accused director. Johansson’s insistence that she believes him has led to the resurfacing of many of her own controversies. Taking to Twitter, numerous discontented users attacked Johansson for her alleged appropriation of queer and cultural identities. Remember, she was accused of 'whitewashing' Ghost in the Shell and opting to play a transman in Rub and Tug.

Check out some heated tweets below:

can someone explain to #ScarlettJohansson that a man who
1) had and still has sex with his adopted daughter
2)has his other daughter saying he raped her
3) was with #epstein in 2013 despite him been already convicted for sex with minors in 2008
isn't to be trusted pic.twitter.com/Hy9BxewpZ7

— Soraya (@Soraya44620541) September 4, 2019

At this point, I think the only identity Scarlett Johansson hasn’t tried to culturally appropriate is a person with integrity.

— Charlotte Clymer🏳️‍🌈 (@cmclymer) September 4, 2019