Scarlett Johansson Says She ‘Mishandled’ Transgender Role Backlash

Actress Scarlett Johansson firmly earned herself the label of internet cancelled earlier this year when she signed on to play a transgender man in the film “Rug & Tug.”

This decision spawned major backlash from the trans community and LGBTQ+ allies, who said the casting was insensitive.

Johansson responded saying she felt she did nothing wrong at the time, but a new Vanity Fair article says that she admitted to regretting her approach to the subject.

“I was not sensitive, my initial reaction to it,” Johansson said. “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.”

In her original statement, Johansson told people angry about the casting to look to Jeffrey Tambor, Felicity Huffman and Jared Leto, three other cisgender actors who have played trans characters.

In the Vanity Fair interview, Johansson also defended her continued support of director Woody Allen, whose step daughter accused him of sexually assaulting her as a child.

“Just because I support my friend does not believe that I don’t support women,” Johansson said.