Scarlett Johansson’s diva demands keep her away from Cannes

Scarlett Johansson reportedly refused to attend the Cannes Film Festival to promote new Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona because organisers wouldn’t meet her demands.

According to the Daily Mail, executives at Warner Brothers have been in negotiations with Scarlett’s people for months and were willing to pay for all the usual expenses including flights, hotel, limousine hire, gowns and designer outfits for all her public appearances, and the use of hair and make-up artists shared with her co-stars Penelope Cruz and Rebecca Hall. But according to the newspaper, Scarlett wanted her own make-up and hair consultants - costing 20,000 euros for the four day trip - and wanted to be in a different hotel from the rest of the stars: 25-30 miles out of town while everyone else would be based centrally.

A source tol the newspaper: “It was crazy. Penelope and Rebecca were going to be working very hard and it wasn’t acceptable that Scarlett would be having to come in from that distance every day, most likely turning up late and it would have thrown schedules into a lot of confusion.

“Also, I think, while Woody’s terribly fond of Scarlett, he was a little upset that she wasn’t being a team player.”

The film, which premiered on Saturday night, was well-received by the notoriously picky audience and a second source added: “Nobody cared [Scarlett wasn’t there. The movie belonged to Penelope and Rebecca anyway with great help from Javier.”