Scarlett Johansson asked for lines to be removed from a French novel, and later tried to ban the book altogether.

Throughout her career, Scarlett Johansson has faced lots of issues. She was in a court battle with Disney, but fans aren’t as aware of another battle that took place thanks to a French novel that exploited her name.

In the following, we’re going to take a closer look at that very lawsuit, and why Johansson only walked away with a small piece of the pie. Johansson wasn’t content with the use of her name, while author Grégoire Delacourt had his motives for using Johansson in story. He was trying to send a particular message, but Scarlett and her team weren’t having it.

Let’s take a look at what went down.

Scarlett Johannson Tried To Ban The English Version Of The French Novel, The First Thing You See, But Lost Her Lawsuit

The Guardian went into detail discussing the novel Scarlett Johansson wanted to ban. Johansson took the author to court after the novel was being translated into English. According to Johansson’s camp, the book was exploiting her name.

The Guardian wrote, “Johansson sued Delacourt last year, with her lawyer stating that the novel constituted a “violation and fraudulent and illegal exploitation of her name, her reputation and her image”, as well as “defamatory claims about her private life”, and set out to stop it from being translated or adapted into a film.”

Johansson’s team was seeking €50,000, but walked away with just €2,500. The court agreed that it was defamatory, but would not agree that it should not be translated or filmed.

“All of Scarlett Johansson’s demands were rejected except one thing that was seen to be an attack in her private life over two relations that she never had,” Emmanuelle Allibert told the Guardian at the time.

“All her other demands … were rejected, notably that there should be a ban on the book being translated or made into a film. We just have to cut out the bit about the affairs.”

In fairness to the book, the story was all about a Scarlett Johansson lookalike. Author Grégoire Delacourt admitted it was never his intent to tarnish Johansson’s name with the book.

Grégoire Delacourt Revealed He Didn’t Mean Any Harm Towards Scarlett Johansson

Looking back, Delacourt stated that he meant no harm towards Johansson, and would even remove two lines that the actress wasn’t fond of in the book. He went on to reveal that there weren’t any bad intentions.

“However, all that is in the book concerning this actress is true and well-meant.”

Some of the parts in the book gave a different description of ‘Johansson’.

The book writes, “Scarlett Johansson looked exhausted. Her hair, somewhere in between two colours, was at war with itself, tumbling loose, flowing, as if in slow motion. Her luscious mouth had lost its usual gloss.”

The book continues, “There were gloomy shadows beneath her eyes where her mascara had smudged, like charcoal. And unfortunately for Arthur Dreyfuss, she was wearing a baggy sweater. A sweater like a sack that did no justice to the actress’s curves, which everyone knew were bewitching, spellbinding.”

For Delacourt, the dialogue in the book was all meant for a deeper reason.

Grégoire Delacourt Had A Deeper Meaning Behind The Description Of Scarlett Johansson’s Look-Alike In The Book

The book was meant to empower others, according to the author. The goal was for readers to realize that real beauty is self-esteem, and not what people actually see physically.

Delacourt revealed, “So I asked myself, as an old advertiser, a young writer, and a father of a normal age, what we were doing to our children to stop them liking themselves as they were. And I suspected that appearances (fashion, models, actors) had become a more important model than what is inside,” he said.

“So I imagined this encounter between one of the most beautiful girls in the world, and a boy who, like all boys, dreams of the most beautiful girl in the world. And when the surface cracks, we discover what is most important: real beauty is self-esteem.”

At the very least for Johansson, The First Thing You See was not converted into a film. Following the lawsuit conclusion eight years ago, it is clear that Scarlett and her team moved on to other things, including a major court battle with Disney, one that is thankfully resolved.