Why Scarlett Johansson Won't Let Her Kids Go on Social Media

Scarlett Johansson has been a household name since the then-9-year-old star made her acting debut in 1994’s North. However, despite her decades-long acting career (including the distinction of being the second-highest grossing actor of all time), the Avengers: Endgame actress has retained an aura of mystery–in part due to her lack of a social media presence. In a new interview with InStyle, Johansson revealed why it’s so important for her not to let her kids go on social media.

The Outset beauty founder shares her daughter Rose, 10, with ex-husband Romain Dauriac, as well as her son Cosmo, 3, with husband, Saturday Night Live star Colin Jost. Despite her public career, Johansson insisted that she is the opposite among her inner circle in a cover story shared on Tuesday, March 11.

“If anyone knows me, I definitely over-share. I'm not a closed book, you know? … But I am a private person in the sense that I value my close friendships,” she explained. "My family is very precious to me, as is their privacy. The anonymity of my children is very precious to me.”

As a former child star, Johansson said she values the privacy that comes with being out of the spotlight–and hopes to keep that experience for her own kids as much as possible. “The thing about being a public figure is that the idea of being recognizable and celebrated feels fun, but then you can never stuff it back in the bottle,” the skincare maven shared. “The reality of it is, there’s a massive loss to that, you know? So I think preserving that for as long as possible until it’s someone's choice, that’s the choice I make as far as my kids go.”

While Johannsson appreciates the freedom that comes with not being famous—“I want to go and buy my own shit at Duane Reade,” she shared—she revealed that she’s had some pushback from her kids.

“I was talking to my daughter the other day, because she said, ‘Oh, I would love to make videos for The Outset,'” she recalled. “She was like, ‘Why can't I?’ And I said, ‘Well, other than the fact that you're 10…’”

Johansson said that she’s also grappled with how much she personally shares publicly, including going back and forth about whether she should join Instagram. “I got close enough to talk to my therapist about it. I was like, 'I guess this is something I need to do.' But it goes against my core values,” she admitted, sharing that despite the potential business benefits, ultimately, she wasn’t able to reconcile joining Instagram and not staying “true to who [she is].”

“The work that I put out there is all based in truth," Johansson explained. "That's the key ingredient. So if I was a person who really enjoyed social media, then I could totally get on the bandwagon. But I'm not."

Read the original article on InStyle