Scarlett Johansson Was A Novel’s ‘Sex Object’ Says Lawsuit, Gregoire Delacourt Claims It Was A Compliment

A Scarlett Johansson doppelganger in a novel was treated as a “sex object,” according to a defamation lawsuit filed by the famous actress, but author Gregoire Delacourt claims he only used her image as a way of giving Johansson a compliment.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, in upcoming movies, Scarlett Johansson will be “Lucy” in a Luc Besson movie, and when she returns for her role as the Black Widow in Avengers: Age Of Ultron, she will be riding a new electric Harley Davidson motorcycle (which really does exist in real life).

The target of Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit was the French language book La premiere chose qu’on regarde (The First Thing We Look At), which features a mysterious blonde character which as described as Johansson’s “exact double” by the author. Unfortunately, the Johansson character was also treated like a “sex object,” and as such the actress claimed Delacourt made “fraudulent use of her name, fame and image” in order to promote the story. Although Scarlett sued for $69,302, a court in Paris, France handed her the victory but only rewarded her $3,397.

But Johansson also had sought an injunction to stop the novel from being translated in other language or adapted for other media like movies, but the court threw out that part of the lawsuit. To a certain extent, it might be argued that the author won the case since the $3,397 seems a paltry sum compared to the free advertising he just received for his novel due to the lawsuit itself making headlines.

Delacourt also claims he did not intend insult, but instead had written the novel as a “tribute” to her beauty:

“It was meant as the highest praise. She is an archetypal beauty of our times, very human with a touching fragility. She is a wonderful, iconic actress. I was hoping that she might send me flowers because this book is, in a way, a declaration of love. If I had known she was going to kick up such a racket, I would have picked another actress.”

Do you think Scarlett Johansson overreacted by suing Gregoire Delacourt over the book’s use of her name?