Scarlett Johansson forced to quit transgender role after LGBT backlash - (fox news)

(Reuters) - Scarlett Johansson on Friday pulled out of a movie in which she was cast to play a transgender character following a backlash from some members of the LGBT community who believed the part should have gone to a transgender actor.

Johansson, one of Hollywood's biggest stars, had agreed to take a role in "Rub & Tug" as Dante "Tex" Gill, a real-life American crime kingpin who used his massage parlor as a front for prostitution in the 1970s and 1980s. Gill was born a woman but identified as a man.

A spokesperson for the 33-year-old was initially defensive about the criticism, but it seems the actress had a change of heart.

She said: 'In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante Tex Gill, I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project. Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance, and I've learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive,' she said.

Scarlett Johansson plays the Black Widow in Avengers: Infinity War