Scarlett Johansson Called Out James Franco During Her Women's March Speech
An estimated 4.9 million protestors gathered at 673 marches around the world on Saturday to support equal rights for women, protest against sexual harassment and assault, encourage crowds to vote in this year's midterm elections, and speak up for the rights of immigrants and Dreamers. As people gathered in the streets of cities like New York, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Los Angeles, celebrities gave rousing speeches and shared their messages of empowerment. Scarlett Johansson stepped up to the podium in Los Angeles to address her own experiences as a young women—and to call out James Franco, who, in opposition to his public support of the Time's Up movement, has been accused of sexual misconduct.
She started her speech by thanking the women who helped organize the march and the Time's Up movement before explaining that the reckoning taking place in Hollywood has made her step back and think: “How could a person publicly stand by an organization that helps to provide support for victims of sexual assault while privately preying on people who have no power?”
She paused and looked at the crowd, “I want my pin back, by the way.”
A rep confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that this comment was directed at Franco, who recently won a Golden Globe for his leading role in The Disaster Artist and accepted the award while wearing a Time's Up pin. During the ceremony he received backlash on Twitter from actress Ally Sheedy, who alluded to Franco's behavior as the reason she left the entertainment industry. Days later the Los Angeles Times published a story in which five women accused Franco of sexually exploitative behavior.
Johansson went on to reflect on her own experiences as a young actress: “Suddenly I was 19 again and I began to remember all the men who had taken advantage of the fact that I was a young woman who didn’t yet have the tools to say no or understand the value of my own self-worth. I had many relationships, both personal and professional, where the power dynamic was so off that I had to create a narrative that I was the cool girl who could hang in and hang out, and that sometimes meant compromising what felt right for me.”
She encouraged everyone to take responsibility for themselves, for their actions, and for teaching their children by leading by example.
“I have recently introduced a phrase in my life that I would like to share with you: No more pandering," Johansson said to the crowd. "No more feeling guilty about hurting people's feelings when something doesn’t feel right for me. I have made a promise to myself to be responsible to myself, that in order to trust my instincts I must first respect them."
She also told the crowd that she is still working on forgiving herself, "forgiving the girl who felt used and heartbroken and confused and guilty and taken advantage of and weak."
The actress concluded her speech by saying, "It gives me hope that we are moving towards a place where our sense of equality can truly come from within ourselves."
Watch Johansson's full speech in the clips below.
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