“I get a lot of pressure to join social media”: Scarlett Johansson opens up about feeling pushed to join Instagram by film studios
Scarlett Johansson is widely regarded as an A-list actress, having been featured in movies like Lost in Translation (2003), Lucy (2014), and several Marvel movies, including the standalone Black Widow movie (2021). However, regardless of her popularity and status in the industry, it seems that Johansson is not exempt from the pressures of maintaining an active social media.
Scarlett Johansson pointed out the same in an interview with Instyle, which came out on March 11, 2025. Discussing how her central beliefs are contrary to what having a social media platform would mean, Johansson agreed that despite her reluctance to join these platforms, she has been persuaded at several points in her career.
Discussing a recent email she received from Universal Pictures inquiring if she would like to join Instagram to promote her upcoming movie, Jurassic World Rebirth, she said:
"I mean, even today, I got an email from Universal [Pictures], and they're like, ‘Hey, would you consider joining Instagram in tandem with the release of Jurassic World: Rebirth?’ [I] get a lot of pressure to join social media. Is there a way I could do this and stay true to who I am? It didn't feel like I could.”
Scarlett Johansson opens up about the pressures of having social media
As previously mentioned, in her Instyle interview, Scarlett Johansson mentioned that she has been pressured to join social media by several people in recent years.
Referring to her recent encounter with Universal Pictures, Johansson shared how they attempted to ask her whether she would be willing to join Instagram to market Jurassic World: Rebirth.
During the same interview, when the interviewer disclosed that Johansson was among the very few entrepreneurs (referring to her beauty company, The Outset) who did not have social media, she was in disbelief.
The interviewer proceeded to ask Johansson a question about his last encounter with Kate Foster (former co-founder of The Outset), who had disclosed that the first thing that came to her mind when she joined the company was getting Scarlette Johansson on Instagram. The interviewers asked Johansson where she stood in that process, to which she replied:
"I got close enough to talk to my therapist about it. I was like, I guess this is something I need to do. But it goes against my core values. I think it was more about: How do I express that, too? Because there's so much expectation from...”
Scarlett Johansson will probably not jump on the social media bandwagon anytime soon
In her Instyle interview, referencing her recent exchange with Universal about joining Instagram to promote Jurassic World: Rebirth, Scarlett Johansson revealed that she did not believe that her joining the platform would determine the film's fate. She also added that social media was not something she feels very strongly about. Referring to how she does not actually like the concept of it, she said:
“The work that I put out there is all based in truth. That's the key ingredient. So if I was a person who really enjoyed social media, then I could totally get on the bandwagon. But I'm not. And I think the film will do fine.”
Scarlett Johansson is not the only actress speaking up about the pressures of having social media in recent times. Stranger Things actress Maya Hawke, in an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that came out on February 13, 2025, disclosed how certain producers in the industry cast actors based on their Instagram and other social media platform followings.
