NEW YORK: Actress Scarlett Johansson said she was “baffled” by Ivanka Trump’s recent comments that she would prefer to be an advocate for issues behind the scenes of President Donald Trump’s administration rather than in the public arena.
Speaking on stage at the Women in the World Summit in New York, Johansson said she was disappointed that Ivanka, in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” this week, said the impact she would have with her father’s decisions, “most people will not actually know about.”
“This idea that behind a great man is a great woman — what about being in front of that person or next to them or standing on your own?... It’s so old-fashioned, it’s so uninspired and actually, I think really cowardly. And I was just so disappointed by that interview that she gave,” she added.
A representative for Ivanka did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Avengers” star Johansson, 32, recently parodied Ivanka in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch last month that called the first daughter “complicit” within her father’s presidential administration.
The sketch came amid questions about Ivanka’s possible conflicts of interest after it was announced that she would become an informal adviser to her father with an office in the West Wing.
Trump has since said she would be taking an unpaid, advisory role to the president to allay ethics concerns, and would be joining her husband Jared Kushner, a powerful adviser to the president.
During Thursday’s discussion, Johansson was asked if she would consider a career in politics.
“I’ve always been interested in local politics, I think that’s where you make the most effective changes in your community,” the actress said.
“I would never rule anything out, but I have a very full life right now,” she added.
Johansson ‘baffled’ by Ivanka Trump’s advocacy comments
Johansson ‘baffled’ by Ivanka Trump’s advocacy comments
Lunar New Year bowing service in China stokes controversy
- Customers could hire proxies to bow and show respect for family members
- Odd jobs app UU Paotui withdraws service after online outrage and mockery
BEIJING: A Chinese odd jobs mobile app has canceled a service that let users hire proxies to bow to their elderly relatives during Lunar New Year family visits, sparking scrutiny of China’s “hire-anyone-for-anything” service sector. Promotional images of the now-deleted service depicted an orange uniform-clad delivery worker on their knees bowing, forehead nearly on the floor, in front of a smiling elderly couple. Online responses ranged from outrage to mockery.
“Filial piety should not be commoditized,” one Weibo user said, referring to the culture of respect for and deference to older family members.
Visiting loved ones and offering good wishes are an important part of the traditional Lunar New Year holiday, although bowing is not widely practiced today.
“After careful consideration, we have voluntarily removed the services that caused controversy,” said odd jobs app UU Paotui, based in central China’s Henan, in a Wednesday WeChat post.
As of Friday, the app still offered a New Year greeter service — with immediate dispatch options — but the 999 yuan ($144.77), two-hour bowing-for-hire package was no longer visible.
Buyers of the now-deleted bowing package could hire gig workers to buy and send gifts, “perform traditional etiquette,” and offer “one minute of auspicious blessings” to loved ones, among other services. The services were meant to help people living far from their families and those with mobility issues maintain traditional customs, UU Paotui said, adding it would offer triple compensation to customers who had already booked.
People who have moved away for work typically return home to visit their families for the most important festival on the Chinese calendar, creating a travel rush commonly referred to as the world’s largest annual human migration. In a nod to the increasingly virtual nature of social life in China, UU Paotui suggested replacing the in-person visits with an app could help avoid awkward social interactions.
“If you don’t want to have social anxiety during the new year, the experience has to be online!” said a Monday Weibo post announcing the service.
Time-poor consumers boost proxy services
Proxy services are not uncommon in China, where labor costs are relatively low and convenience is at a premium for urban consumers.
Outside the holiday period, UU Paotui users can hire someone through the app to accompany them to hospital, feed their pets, or wait in queues at restaurants and other busy locations.
A Wednesday commentary in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, called the bowing service “very awkward” and urged closer scrutiny of the proxy service industry.
“Real innovation should meet needs while also safeguarding values,” it said, pointing out that paying a proxy to cover work shifts, for example, could come with legal risks. The controversy comes amid increasing concern for China’s often overworked delivery workers, who can sometimes be seen sprinting through shopping malls and residential compounds to deliver an order on time.
President Xi Jinping met delivery workers on Wednesday to wish them a happy new year and acknowledge their hard work.
“The city couldn’t function without workers like you,” he said.
