Scarlett Johansson: 'I am not a role model'

Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has spoken out in the aftermath of her SodaStream controversy to urge fans not to hold her up as a "role model".

The Avengers star faced heavy criticism last month (Jan14) over her decision to promote the Israel-based drinkmaker, which has factories in the contested West Bank region.

She subsequently stepped down from her role as an ambassador for Oxfam, as the organisation's pledge to oppose "all trade from Israeli settlements" clashed with her new endorsement deal.

Johansson has now admitted she hates the pressure of public life and doesn't want fans to see her as a role mode, telling Dazed magazine, "I don't see myself as being a role model; I never wanted to step into those shoes. I don't profess to know more or less than anybody else. If that's a by-product of whatever image is projected on to me I don't feel responsible as an artist to give anyone that message. It's not my jam.... How could I wake up every day and be a normal person if I was completely aware that my image was being manipulated on a global platform. How could I sleep?

"You have to have peace of mind. You've got to be able to protect those things. How else could you exist? You'd go crazy, anybody would go crazy."