The legendary actress penned a piece in Time magazine, which honored the "Black Widow" star for being included in its 100 Most Influential People list for 2021. And Curtis didn't leave out Johansson's recent drama with the studio.
"I recently watched her own the screen as the Black Widow, who exacts revenge on a powerful figure who manipulates (emphasis on man) women to fight for him," Curtis wrote.
"And then I saw her brilliant response to a real-life manipulation (same emphasis), when she filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the studio, alleging its decision to release the film simultaneously in theaters and on streaming cost her substantial losses in pay."
"Whether as an assassin with a conscience, an actor with an emotional center or, having just given birth to her second child, a fierce mother, the message is clear: Don't f-ck with this mama bear," Curtis concluded in her piece.
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Scarlett Johansson in "Black Widow."
Marvel Studios
In late July, following the simultaneous release of Marvel's "Black Widow" in theaters and on Disney+, Johansson sued Disney, saying the studio violated her contract, potentially having her miss out on a significant payday because her salary was largely based on box-office performance. According to The Wall Street Journal, she could be missing out on $50 million.
Disney responded to Johansson's lawsuit, saying in a statement that the actress has earned $20 million to date for the movie.
Since the lawsuit has gone public, other actors who have worked on Marvel movies have voiced their support for Johansson, including Elizabeth Olsen and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Curtis and Johansson have been close since Johansson starred as Curtis' mother, actress Janet Leigh, in the 2012 movie "Hitchcock," the biopic on the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock.
"There's a moment in that movie that startles me, where I look at Scarlett and she is my mother," Curtis wrote for the Time piece.
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