Buzzfeed's Susan Cheng reports that during an interview with the actor portraying a 70's corporate sleazebag, he made inappropriate sexual remarks; put his arm around her; and told her he was 'sweating like a rapist.'
I know far worse things have been said and done than what Johansson said and did that day. But his conduct is common in a Hollywood culture that puts young women in positions where they can be easily manipulated or harassed by older men. What's worse, that culture also discourages those women from speaking out and continues to reward the men accused of committing such offenses, as recent events have indicated. Last week, I emailed Johansson's publicist with a request to speak to him about how he acted toward me, and what he was thinking. I received a response 20 hours later: a letter from Johansson's lawyer (an excerpt of which can be seen at the bottom of this post) claiming that the actor "never acted inappropriate towards [me], or any of [my] colleagues at the BuzzFeed offices."
When she complained, she received a letter from his lawyer, Andrew B. Brettler, in which he accused her of fabricating the story to "exploit" his client's popularity.
What Hollywood's Acceptance Of Sexism Looks Like In Practice
