Having lampooned Ivanka Trump in the now-infamous “Complicit” skit on SNL, actress Scarlett Johansson didn’t mince words when criticizing the president’s daughter at the Women in the World Summit in New York.
“You can’t have it both ways,” Johansson said of Ivanka in an interview with Arianna Huffington Thursday afternoon, sharpening her knife. “If you take a job as a public advocate, then you must advocate publicly.” Ivanka’s interview with CBS News’ Gayle King earlier in the week was “baffling,” Johansson said, adding that she was particularly “disappointed” in Ivanka’s admission that her positive impact on the administration will be mostly behind-the-scenes.
“Well, that’s empowering!” Johansson, who gave a speech at the Women’s March on Washington, said in a sarcastic nod to Ivanka’s pledge to advocate for “women’s economic empowerment” in her new role as assistant to the president.
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Johansson called out the president’s daughter for being a traditionalist rather than a feminist. Indeed, despite her so-called “advocacy” for women’s rights—speaking out about equal pay and the importance of paid maternal leave—Ivanka has never identified as a feminist.
“This idea that behind a great man is a great woman—it’s such an old-fashioned concept,” the actress said, lamenting the idea that powerful women like Ivanka Trump are too concerned about how people perceive them to wield their power publicly.
Johansson conceded that she “can’t imagine how complicated it must be” to be in Ivanka’s position.
“It’s a unique and strange thing, but she has an opportunity to really make a big impact just by being vocal. And I have met her several times in the past, many years ago, and she’s very well-spoken and intelligent and engaging,” Johansson continued, stopping short of enumerating how she is complicit in her father’s illiberal administration.
Asked if she would ever consider entering politics, Johansson said that she wouldn’t “rule anything out, but I have a very full life right now and I think with a very young daughter and all I want to do with my career, I can’t imagine [entering politics] would be a possibility for a long time.”
