Scarlett Johansson had a big night last night: She was honored at the AmFAR New York Gala for all her work contributing to the fight against AIDS and HIV. As for her date, the recently-divorced movie star brought the most important person of all–her mother.
When asked about her mom, Melanie Sloan, on the red carpet, ScarJo did a whole lot of gushing, saying:
[She’s] been incredibly inspiring for me in many, many ways, but certainly as a young girl.
She never shielded us from what was going on in the zeitgeist in culture. She always made us aware, you know, socially aware. She always encouraged us to be politically and socially active, so I couldn’t imagine a better date tonight.
Say it with me now: awwwww.
As the guest of honor, Johansson gave a speech at the gala, in which she talked a lot about her early childhood, and a close friendship her mother had with a man who eventually died from AIDS. She also gave an amazing shout-out to working mothers:
I don’t profess to know anything about parenting, anything more than anybody else, [but] being a working mom is an incredible challenge, [and] it’s an incredible gift, I think you always feel a little bit of guilt… If you’re at work, you feel like you’re missing out on those special moments with your kid. If you’re with your kid, you feel like you’re not giving enough to your job. It’s a balance.
Johansson is a working mother herself, as she is co-parenting her 2-year-old daughter, Rose, with her ex, Romain Dauriac. In her speech, she added that she’s “barely, barely holding it all together.”
ScarJo, she’s just like us.
