As expected, the lawsuit from Scarlett Johansson against the Walt Disney Company has been resolved out of court with a settlement agreed on by both parties. The details of the settlement will remain confidential and, as in all settlement agreements, both parties will have stipulated that Disney is not admitting to any wrongdoing by entering into the settlement agreement.
This brings to close a lawsuit that saw more sparks in the media than it ever saw in court. The case was interesting, due to ever changing film release strategies by studios, but the legal issues in this case were pretty straight forward. ‘Did Disney force Marvel to breach their contract with Johansson?’ Not a ground breaking issue.
In the end, both sides agreed to end the lawsuit. While there will be many alleged leaks about the terms of the agreement, one should take all of those with a huge grain of salt. The penalty for leaking the confidential terms are spelled out in these agreements and they can be debilitatingly harsh.
In like a lion, out like a whimper. While the resolution of the case does not help to set new rules for actor compensation in the age of streaming, it does bring to end an unfortunate battle that most Marvel fans hated to see. While the details remain secretive, we are confident to report that both parties, the Walt Disney Company and Scarlett Johansson, along with Marvel Studios, are all still extremely rich and have limitless earning potential in the future. No one is going hungry and all the lights are staying on.
If you were curious about the actual legal issues being alleged, check out my breakdown of the Johansson vs Disney lawsuit. I practiced law for half a decade and used my knowledge and experience to explain the allegations and the potential consequences.
That story is here: Scarlett Johansson vs Disney: Lawsuit Fully Explained
