By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
'Nanny Diaries' Flirts with Watchability as Johansson Snubs Harvey, Hizzoner
OK, so I ditched my parents at the Today Show studios long enough to direct you to Open All Night, where my pals Bennett and Dennis caught all the clusterfuck drama surrounding Wednesday’s NYC film commission press conference on the set of The Nanny Diaries. This event featured all of The Reeler’s favorite things–Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Weinstein, a frazzled bureaucracy and enough potential for disaster to all but assure a total system failure.
And as the OAN gang told readers yesterday, the meltdown did not take long:
After speaking, Harvey Weinstein said, “I’ll go get Scarlett,” and walked to the movie set. There was some discussion, and we heard the words “She said no” from the set; apparently Johansson had refused to come and meet the mayor. This was later corroborated by an on-set rep.
So Mayor Bloomberg walked up the street to the tent where Johansson was sequestered; a few photographers followed along, and things turned ugly. The mayor’s security detail harassed the photographers, and threatened to revoke their press credentials if they did not leave the public street. A publicist then told us that it had taken over 2,000 e-mails to make the event happen, and that Johansson stipulated that she would not be photographed with the mayor. The mayor’s muscle made sure that it did not happen.
Awesome! The guys have more pictures over at OAN, but few compare with the mental image of Mayor Bloomberg whispering, “It’s OK, Harvey, it’s OK,” before whistling between his thumb and forefinger and signaling the police detail to light the entire set on fire, just like ‘Nam. Or film commissioner Katherine Oliver calling in an IRS audit of the Weinstein Company before she even gets back to her Midtown office. Or Harvey sniffing to Scarlett, “I thought you were a team player,” before ordering her boyfriend Josh Hartnett bound in the negative his latest WeinCo dud, Lucky Number Slevin, and ceremonially drowned in the Hudson. I hope I am at least invited to that press conference.
UPDATE: The NYDN passes along the scoop that Johansson was not fleeing the on-set press conference in terror–that running off and hiding was just another symbol of her consummate professionalism:
In an e-mail to the Daily News, Johansson said her absence had nothing to do with Bloomberg’s politics.
“I am simply in New York trying to do my job – filming of The Nanny Diaries – that’s it. We were never supposed to be a part of the press conference,” she said. “Production always comes first.”
Sure, Scarlett–blame it on Harvey. You would not be the first.
(Photo: Dennis Van Tine / OAN)