Black Widow isn’t afraid of a fight.
Scarlett Johansson has signed an open letter that calls on Congress to reject cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill.
“Ongoing high grocery costs mean food is out of reach for so many families, and many of our neighbors simply do not have enough to eat,” the open letter written by Feeding America reads. “They don’t know where their next meal is coming from or if that meal will be enough to nourish and sustain them.”
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The letter notes that “an estimated 15.5 million children and 7.2 million seniors rely on programs” like SNAP and Medicaid merely “to make ends meet.”
“Congress is now considering a bill that would make some of the largest cuts to SNAP and Medicaid in U.S. history — taking 9.5 billions of meals a year through SNAP off the table and pushing hundreds of thousands of people off Medicaid and into food insecurity,” the letter reads. “This is unacceptable and wrong. It is not how people in this country treat each other when facing hard times.”
If kids from low-income families lose access to SNAP, they also will lose their automatic enrollment in free meals at school, the liberal-leaning think tank the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports.
Although Johansson is one of over 30 celebrities — including Matt Damon, Sheryl Crow and Don Johnson — who signed the letter published to Feeding America’s site Wednesday, the “Jurassic World Rebirth” star’s signature has significance.
In 2023, Johansson wrote an essay for Feeding America in which she said that she relied on free meals at school when she was a child, and that she has a “tremendous amount of gratitude for those meals.”
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“My family relied on public assistance, and the meals I ate at school were part of the free school lunch program — which provides free breakfast and lunch to students from low-income families,” Johansson wrote. “With those meals, my brother and I had the nourishment and energy to get through our day of learning and playing, and do all the things healthy kids get to do.”
“I can only imagine the relief my parents felt, knowing my siblings and I had access to meals at school,” she continued. “Every day, parents are there for their children — to celebrate their successes and support them on their journeys — and no parent should have to worry about where their children’s next meal is going to come from.”
“I believe in a world where kids have food on their plates and full stomachs,” she concluded. “Where children thrive and grow and do amazing things — with food to fuel every moment of laughter, discovery and success.”
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill — which also is a tax cut package for the wealthy — is currently in the Senate, but likely not for long.
Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) wants a vote on the current version of the bill this week to satisfy Trump’s wish to have it on his desk to sign by July Fourth. If passed by the Senate this week, it will be sent back to the House for final approval so Trump can sign it into law.
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