Scarlett Johansson Denies She Ever Auditioned to Date Tom Cruise Saying Claims Are 'Demeaning'
Scarlett Johansson is firing back at “demeaning” claims she once auditioned to be Tom Cruise‘s girlfriend.
The actress, 33, is denying the claims made by Brendan Tighe, a former Scientologist who appeared on Megyn Kelly Today on Wednesday claiming he came across reports of multiple women who auditioned to be in a relationship with the actor following his split from Nicole Kidman.
“The very idea of any person auditioning to be in a relationship is so demeaning,” Johansson said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “I refuse for anyone to spread the idea that I lack the integrity to choose my own relationships.”
“Only a man aka Brendan Tighe would come up with a crazy story like that,” she added.
The Avengers: Infinity War actress is currently dating Saturday Night Live comedian Colin Jost.
A rep for Cruise did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The Church of Scientology also issued a statement to Megyn Kelly, with spokeswoman Karin Pouw saying, “Brendan Tighe was a Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization security guard/night watchman from 2002 to 2009.”
“The ‘access’ he boasts of having was largely limited to viewing security cameras from a guard booth,” Pouw continued. “He was removed from that position for dereliction of duty.”
On Wednesday, Tighe told Kelly he saw Cruise “every day for about three months at a time.”
“Every year or two he would come. He would always have a security entourage that would help him cross the street,” he continued, adding, “I was part of that group that would help him safely cross the street.”
Tighe claimed he began to receive “reports” to his printer that alleged women had auditioned to be Cruise’s girlfriend.
“In Scientology terminology, his “second dynamic” — a spouse or marital partner or sexual partner or anything like that,” Tighe explained.
He said the only name he knew was Johansson’s, saying, “It was right there in the report. It didn’t go well.”
This isn’t the first time claims of Cruise or Scientology auditioning women were made. In a 2012 article published by Vanity Fair, Iranian-born actress Nazanin Boniadi was selected to date the superstar.
Boniadi was audited every day for one month in October 2004 in which she told a “high-ranking Scientology official her innermost secrets and every detail of her sex life,” according to the publication.
She and Cruise dated from November 2004 to January 2005.
