Scarlett Johansson took her feud with Ivanka Trump to the next level when she once again slammed the first daughter, calling her “cowardly” and “uninspired” for refusing to publicly denounce some of President Donald Trump’s policies.
The Ghost in the Shell actress, 32, previously impersonated the 35-year-old former fashion designer on Saturday Night Live last month. Johansson appeared as Ivanka in an ad for a perfume called “Complicit,” saying it’s “the fragrance for the woman who can stop all this … but won’t.”
Then earlier this week, Ivanka defended herself against critics like Johansson and SNL writers who believe she’s been too “complicit” in some of her father’s controversial decisions. “If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact, then I’m complicit,” Ivanka said during an interview with CBS’ Gayle King. “So I hope to make a positive impact. I don’t know what it means to be complicit, but, you know, I hope time will prove that I’ve done a good job.”
The movie star, who was speaking at the Women in the World Summit on Thursday, April 6, fired back at Ivanka’s CBS comments. “It was really baffling. You can’t have it both ways,” Johansson said of Ivanka, who was recently named special assistant to the president. “If you take a job as a public advocate, then you have to advocate publicly.”
The Captain America: Civil War actress took particular issue with Ivanka saying she stands up to her father behind closed doors. “I thought to myself, ‘Well, that’s empowering,’” she sarcastically quipped. “How old-fashioned, this idea that behind a great man is a great woman. What about being in front of that person or next to that person? … Powerful women often get concerned with this idea that they’re going to be seen in this unforgiving light. Screw that. … It’s so uninspired and actually really cowardly. And I was so disappointed by that interview she gave yesterday.”
However, Johansson did acknowledge that it must be a “unique” and “strange” situation for Ivanka, who she has met several times since they both grew up in NYC. “She has an opportunity to make a big impact just by being vocal,” she said. “She’s very well spoken, smart and intelligent woman and engaging. It baffles me.”
