Scarlett Johansson Refutes Claims She ‘Auditioned’ To Date Tom Cruise

Scarlett Johansson is not amused. Image by Getty Images

By Jenny Singer June 28, 2018

Imagine how embarrassing it would be to ever date Tom Cruise. Now imagine how embarrassing it would be to have people think you auditioned for the privilege…and didn’t even get the job.

After former Scientologist Brendan Tighe spoke on “Meghan Kelly Today” on Wednesday about his experiences serving on Tom Cruise’s security division, Johansson is dealing with this rumor. In his first television interview, Tighe, who was raised in the Scientologist church, told Kelly that as a member of the “Sea Organization,” the most intense inner circle of the church, he was put on high-profile member Tom Cruise’s security detail. While on Cruise’s detail, Tighe claims that he saw reports that were accidentally delivered to his printer that listed women who were in the process of “auditioning” or “interviewing” to be Cruise’s “second dynamic,” a Scientology term for spouse or significant other. Tighe says that of all the names he saw, the one he recognized was Scarlett Johansson. Tighe says that the report claimed that Johansson auditioned, and “it didn’t go well.”

Johansson denies this story.

“The very idea of any person auditioning to be in a relationship is so demeaning,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I refuse for anyone to spread the idea that I lack the integrity to choose my own relationships. Only a man aka Brendan Tighe would come up with a crazy story like that.”

All in all, not the most flattering rumor. But true or false, isn’t every first date an audition? Johansson, who is Jewish (as we never tire of reminding people) is now dating Saturday Night Live writer and performer Colin Jost. We like to think he went through quite a lengthy audition process before dating her.

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

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