Scarlett Johansson’s Mother Couldn’t Afford Her Two-Bedroom Apartment after the Actress Fired Her

• Scarlett Johansson was once a struggling actress who relied on food stamps to eat.
• Her mother Melanie Sloan managed her career from when she was nine years old until Johansson fired her in 2012.
• Sloan had financially struggled and couldn't afford to pay for an apartment at one point.

Scarlett Johansson is the first to admit that she struggled greatly as a child. She and her family relied on welfare, using food stamps to eat.

Despite growing up in New York City, life was far from glamorous for Johansson and her family. They were a low-income household living in an expensive city.

"It was a lot," she once admitted. She was filled with trauma from her childhood, and even her fame and fortune nowadays won't allow her to forget it.

The actress' parents divorced when she was 13. Her mom, Melanie Sloan, moved to California while she and her brother Hunter stayed in New York with their dad, Karsten.

Johansson's story is one of hope and determination. Her passion for entertainment started at a young age, and with the support of her mother, she was able to break into the industry with her first role on an Off-Broadway show. She then transitioned to Hollywood, where she continues to thrive as an actress.

After 26 years in the business, Johansson has become one of the most renowned actresses of our time, with a career that shows no signs of slowing down.

Not only has she conquered the movie industry, but she's also made a name for herself as a successful brand endorser. Her partnerships with luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, and Moet & Chandon are a testament to her versatility and appeal.

She's been with a string of actors, from Jared Leto, to Josh Hartnett, until she married Ryan Reynolds (now divorced) in September 2008. Then, she made another life-altering decision to drop her mom as her manager.

Sloan once signed a contract to purchase a $1.4 million Manhattan apartment, which she revoked only three months later, claiming she didn't have the money to pay for it anymore.

Scarlet Johansson Fired Her Mom

"Once I got married, I felt that I needed to cut the cord," Johansson said regarding her decision to cut business ties with her mother in 2012. While many would see that negatively, Johansson and her mom remain close.

The actress switched up her mom for Hollywood agent Rick Yorn, whose artists include Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

In the years following their business separation, Johansson's mother struggled financially. Sloan once signed a contract to purchase a $1.4 million Manhattan apartment, which she revoked only three months later, claiming she didn't have the money to pay for it anymore.

Sloan claimed she no longer had sufficient income to obtain a mortgage for the property. The struggling mom even sued the apartment owners to return her $130,000 deposit.

The apartment owners fought the lawsuit, claiming Sloan acted in bad faith and therefore didn't have the legal right to get her downpayment back. "We don't understand how she went from being rich to poor in two weeks," the apartment owner's lawyer said.

A month after signing the apartment deal, Sloan e-mailed her daughter's agent to ask if she had any payments due. Even though Johansson cut the cord, her mom still received payouts from deals made during her time as her daughter's manager.

In her e-mail to Johansson's agent, Sloan asked if any payments were due in 2012 from Moet & Chandon or Dolce and Gabbana. The agent responded that the only expected money was $250,000 from Moet, which would give Sloan her standard 10% manager's commission, amounting to $25,000.

To date, the "Black Widow" actress's net worth is reportedly $165 million. Having been in the industry for almost three decades, Johansson is among the highest-grossing female actresses. However, she clarified that while her movies made her one of the highest-grossing stars, she wasn't the highest-paid compared to her male co-stars.

Her Current Relationship with Her Mom

One might assume that after cutting ties with her mom professionally, Johansson caused a rift between them. However, this isn't true.

In recent years, Johansson has been spotted out with Sloan several times. On one occasion, they ate lunch in a local Los Angeles eatery.

The pair walked arm-in-arm, dressed casually, and spoke to one another as they sat outside the restaurant. Their interactions aren't always casual, as in 2017, the actress took her mom as her date to a formal event.

The lovely pair attended the amfAR New York Gala, sponsored by Moet & Chandon. During her speech that day, Johansson praised her mom, saying:

"She's been incredibly inspiring for me in many, many ways, but certainly as a young girl. She never shielded us from what was going on in the zeitgeist, in culture."

Johansson credits her mom for teaching her and her twin brother to be socially aware of what was happening around them. She encouraged them to be politically and socially active, and it felt only fitting that she was her date that night.

Like the "Lucy" actress, some of her siblings are also actors. Her twin brother Hunter is an actor, her sister Vanessa is a voice actress and director, and her brother Adrian is an actor and voice actor.

After divorcing Ryan Reynolds, whom she was married to from 2008 to 2011, Johansson went on to marry Romain Dauriac from 2014 to 2017. Together, they share a daughter named Rose Dorothy.

In 2020, she married her third husband, Colin Jost. They welcomed their son Cosmo a year later, in 2021.