Scarlett Johansson had a dangerous brush with paparazzi Monday following a taping she did of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The Avengers: Endgame star’s car was pursued after the taping of the show. Johansson was in the car with two other people, but she was not driving. Paparazzi were following Johansson’s car in a dangerous fashion, and all the occupants felt unsafe, police said.
The actress went to the Hollywood LAPD station, police said.
Johansson finally made it home safely, and no further action was taken.
In a statement to THR, via her rep, Johansson said: “The paparazzi consistently go to increasingly dangerous lengths to stalk and harass the people they are photographing. Even after Princess Diana’s tragic death, the laws were never changed to protect targets from the lawless paparazzi. Many paparazzi have criminal pasts and will perform criminal acts to get their shot. Yesterday, after leaving the Jimmy Kimmel Show, I was followed by 5 cars full of men with blacked out windows who were running red lights and putting other drivers and pedestrians at risk so they could follow me to find out where I was staying and subsequently stalk me and my young daughter for the duration of my stay.”
She added: “The paparazzi put people’s lives at risk, so they can wait for days in quiet neighborhoods in blacked out cars, and try to follow me to the playground and photograph my child and other people’s children in a safe place that should be off limits, but isn’t. All of this is perfectly legal. After yesterday’s incident, I felt it was my duty as a concerned citizen who was being pursued dangerously and stalked to go to the local precinct and seek guidance there. I would encourage others in a similar situation to go to the police. Women across the US are stalked, harassed and frightened and a universal law to address stalking must be at the forefront of law enforcement conversations. Until paparazzi are considered by the law for the criminal stalkers they are, it’s just a waiting game before another person gets seriously injured or killed, like Princess Diana.”
April 9, 9:05 a.m.: This story has been updated with police confirmation of Johansson’s paparazzi scare.
April 9, 8:45 p.m.: Updated with Johansson’s statement.
