Scarlett Johansson shared a vague update about how her public support for filmmaker Woody Allen has affected her career.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the two-time Oscar nominee spoke about how her decision to stand by Allen in the wake of sexual abuse allegations from his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, has—or hasn’t—impacted her career.
“I guess it’s hard to know,” Johansson said. “You never know what the domino effect is, exactly. But my mom always encouraged me to be myself, [to see] that it’s important to have integrity and stand up for what you believe in.”
“At the same time, I think it’s also important to know when it’s not your turn,” she added. “I don’t mean that you should silence yourself. I mean, sometimes it’s just not your time. And that’s something I’ve understood more as I’ve matured.”
Johansson, who has starred in three of Allen’s films between 2005 and 2008, was one of Allen’s only outspoken supporters following accusations of pedophilia that resurfaced against him when the #MeToo movement gained traction during the late 2010s.
The Black Widow actress told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019 that she “loves” and “believes” Allen, and said she “would work with him anytime.”
“I see Woody whenever I can, and I have had a lot of conversations with him about it,” she continued. “I have been very direct with him, and he’s very direct with me. He maintains his innocence, and I believe him.”
The late Diane Keaton, who was romantically involved with Allen for several years beginning in the late 1960s and starred opposite the filmmaker in his 1977 magnum opus Annie Hall, also defended the four-time Oscar winner amid the allegations.
A rep for Johansson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Allen has repeatedly denied the accusations levied by his adoptive daughter, who claims that he molested her when she was seven years old in 1992. Law enforcement investigated the claims, but the filmmaker was never criminally charged.
As a result of the accusations reemerging during the #MeToo movement, Allen has had difficulty distributing his films in the U.S., and many actors who worked with the director in the past have denounced him.
Timothée Chalamet, who starred in the director’s 2019 film A Rainy Day in New York, donated his salary from the project to three charities, sharing his regret in working with Allen.
“I don’t want to profit from my work on the film, and to that end, I am going to donate my entire salary to three charities: Time’s Up, the LGBT Center in New York and RAINN [the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network],” Chalamet said in a now-deleted Instagram post.
Allen responded to Chalamet’s announcement, calling it a PR stunt to improve his chances of winning an Oscar.
“Timothée afterward publicly stated he regretted working with me and was giving the money to charity, but he swore to my sister he needed to do that as he was up for an Oscar for Call Me by Your Name, and he and his agent felt he had a better chance of winning if he denounced me, so he did," the filmmaker wrote in his 2020 memoir Apropos of Nothing.
