Scarlett Johansson wishes she could shield her kids from her past smoking habit.
The Black Widow star, who just welcomed her second child Cosmo with new husband Colin Jost, appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show where she got candid about why she’s “so ashamed” to admit smoking was once a part of her life to her daughter Rose Dorothy, 7, whom she shares with her ex Romain Dauriac.
“My daughter may have asked me this before. I used to smoke when I was younger and I’m so ashamed,” the 37-year-old said. “I just don’t want her to ever think that I ever thought it was cool ’cause she can never, ever, ever smoke.”
Johansson joked that telling her daughter not to smoke may be the very thing that encourages her to do so, so she just hopes she “never figures that out.”
According to the CDC, about 12.5% of Americans smoke regularly, down from more than 20% in 2005. It remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States.
Johansson isn’t the only star to realize that they needed to stop smoking. In 2020, Gisele Bundchen opened up to Vogue Australia about what it took for her to kick the habit.
“I don’t run anymore, but I ran then because it allowed me to feel my lungs and every time I ran for 20 minutes I was like: ‘OK, I can feel my lungs, OK, I’m not smoking,’” she told the outlet.
Former President Barack Obama also smoked during his time in the White House, writing in his memoir that he was eventually encouraged to quit after his daughter Malia Obama “frowned” when she smelled cigarettes on his breath.
Johansson has previously talked about how curious her daughter Rose is now that she is seven, telling InStyle that she often asks questions like, “’Why are you tweezing your eyebrows? Why are you curling your lashes? What’s a tampon? What’s it for?'”
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