Scarlett Johansson Faces Backlash Over Reports She'll Play Transgender Man

By Hayden Brooks

July 5, 2018

Scarlett Johansson has received backlash after the Hollywood titan has reportedly accepted a role to play a transgender man in the upcoming film, Rub & Tug.

In the forthcoming Rupert Sanders-directed film, Johansson will help tell the true story of transgender massage parlor owner Dante "Tex" Gill. Sanders previously directed the actress in 2017's Ghost in a Shell, where she starred as the Japanese manga character, Major Motoko Kusanagi. "Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive," she told Marie Claire over that backlash in her March 2017 interview

Still, the Rub & Tug casting announcement has arrived. Johansson's statement on the controversy didn't help anything either. "Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman's reps for comment," she told Bustle. Needless to say, the announcement, as well as Johansson's tone-deaf response to the debacle, didn't rub the LGBTQ+ community and its supporters the right way. Scroll on below to see some of the reactions to the star's upcoming project!

Photo: Getty Images

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