Scarlett Johansson Really Hates Her Nickname

Image by Glamour

By Anne Cohen April 8, 2014

Uh oh. Turns out we’ve all committed a major faux-pas when it comes to Scarlett Johansson. And no, it’s not questioning her political correctness over the SodaStream debacle.

In an interview for the April cover of Glamour, the 29-year-old actress complained that she really, really hates it when the media calls her ScarJo.

“I associate that name with, like, pop stars. ‘It sounds tacky. It’s lazy and flippant … There’s something insulting about it,” she said.

Point taken.

So, on behalf of all media, I want to formally apologize to JLo, JLaw, KStew, the Biebz and anyone else we’ve bestowed a character-saving nickname upon — you know, the age of Twitter and all that.

It’s not the first time Johansson has come out against her moniker. In 2012, she told USA Today: “It’s a laziness … People can’t actually say the whole name? It’s just bizarre … so Cate Blanchett is not, like, ‘CaBla’? Why is that? Why do I have to get stuck with [ScarJo]?”

It’s because we love you. Promise.

Which Jewish celebrity names can we butcher next? I vote for NPort.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO