Disney CEO Bob Chapek has fired back at Scarlett Johansson to defend ‘last minute calls’ and ‘flexibility’ amid the pandemic after the actress sued the studio for $50 million over its streaming release of Black Widow.

Chapek stated that flexibility is important to be able make last-minute calls during a Q3 earnings conference on Thursday. “Certainly, when we planned, we didn’t anticipate that COVID would resurface.”

Johansson (36), sued Disney last month. She claimed that she was denied more than $50,000,000 because the film was released on Disney+ simultaneously with its theatrical release.

According to the star, her contract guaranteed Black Widow a theatrical release and that her salary was based largely on her box office performance.

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Chapek, however, reaffirmed Thursday’s ‘hybrid film’ release and called it ‘the right strategy for us to reach as broad an audience as possible’

According to the CEO, distribution decisions are made film-by-film. We will continue to use all options moving forward.