This week was a historic one for women and #MeToo supporters across the United States, as attendance at women's marches swelled to hundreds of thousands per event. Participants protested the injustices that women are subjected to on the regular in society and, in Los Angeles, that feeling of empowerment was potentially at its strongest. More than 500,000 people attended the Los Angeles event, with one high-profile speaker singling out James Franco for his distasteful wearing of the "Time's Up" pin.
Scarlett Johansson, star of Marvel's hugely successful Avengers franchise, had some choice words for the actor who, at last check, had been accused of sexual assault by no less than five women. In her speech to the crowd who was on hand, ScarJo was quick to point out the hypocrisy of Franco's actions at the Golden Globes this past year.
“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? I want my pin back, by the way,” she said. Although Franco's name wasn't explicitly mentioned, a rep for Johansson confirmed that that's who the comment was directed at.
Johansson expanded on her experience as a young woman in Hollywood and, suffice it to say, it wasn't all sunshine: “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.” Check out all of her comments in the above video.
