Romain Dauriac isn’t taking “No” for an answer.
He isn’t even taking “No, Seriously, I Don’t Want to Stay Married to You and Really Think We Ought to Go Our Separate Ways for the Rest of Our Lives” as an answer.
After announcing their separation in January, Johansson took the break-up a legal step further this week by filing for divorce.
In a statement provided to Us Weekly and other outlets, the beautiful actress acknowledged this decision by saying the following:
“As a devoted mother and private person and with complete awareness that my daughter will one day be old enough to read the news about herself, I would only like to say that I will never, ever be commenting on the dissolution of my marriage.
“Out of respect for my desires as a parent and out of respect for all working moms, it is with kindness that I ask other parties involved and the media to do the same.
“Thank you.”
It all sounds very reasonable, just like the statements made by many celebrities before Johansson who filed for divorce.
But Dauriac has responded in an unexpected way.
As part of her filing, Johansson is asking a judge to give her primary custody of the ex-couple’s three-year-old daughter, Rose Dorothy Dauriac.
She was born shortly after the pair got married in 2014.
Dauriac, however, has asked the actress to withdraw her divorce petition, citing the little girl as his basis for wanting to work things out.
“It is indeed unfortunate, especially for our daughter, that Scarlett filed in court and made our personal differences so public,” Dauriac’s statement in response reads.
“I would implore her to withdraw her action promptly and to go back, as uncomfortable as it might be, to the negotiating table.
“We are the parents of a lovely daughter whom we will continue to co-parent for many years and share her joys and sorrows as only a parent can.”
Dauriac’s attorney tells People Magazine the two were engaged in private negotiations when Johansson filed her papers.
“We were shocked that they filed these proceedings in court,” he tells People, adding:
“We had been negotiating information relevant to their child Rose and also economic issues, so we were stunned when they did this. We’ve told [Johansson and her lawyers] that we would go to any means to try to avoid this.”
This is an unusual back-and-forth that does seem to be more centered on the future of little Rose; not on Dauriac simply wanting to stay married to one of the best looking women on the planet.
The divorce papers were served on Tuesday afternoon and an insider tells People that Johansson didn’t mean to start an all-out war.
“Under the law in NYC, the filing of an action for divorce is merely procedural,” this insider says.
“No request for a judge was requested. While her lawyer did request that Scarlett get residential custody, again, for procedural purposes, they preserved all rights she had if they didn’t resolve the case. It wasn’t a secret that the parties were separated. So filing for divorce is no big deal.
“This is not a hostile act by Scarlett.”
