Scarlett Johansson’s alleged stalker has been arrested after reportedly threatening to bomb the studio of Saturday Evening Reside, the favored tv present the place her husband, Colin Jost, works as a workers author and co-host of the Weekend Replace phase, in response to the courtroom filings and legislation enforcement officers.
Scarlett Johansson’s alleged stalker arrested
Johansson’s alleged stalker recognized as Michael Joseph Branham is a 48-year-old man who has the phrase “Scarlett” tattooed with a coronary heart round it on his torso. On Wednesday, he was arrested in Manhattan for allegedly sending out the risk textual content messages. In response to the legal grievance, the message despatched learn, “THE NEXT TIME YOU HERE [sic] FROM ME I WILL BE ON CNN FOR EXPLODING A BOMB IN SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE AUDIENCE.”
The police sources reported {that a} international safety investigator for NBC Common and 30 Rock reported the threatening messages to the Midtown North Precinct on Tuesday. Branham, who has 4 excellent warrants in Kentucky, was arrested in New York Metropolis for making the bomb risk, which prosecutors declare stemmed from a private obsession with Johansson. He appeared in Manhattan legal courtroom on Thursday, dealing with felony costs, together with false reporting and making a risk of mass hurt. The courtroom set his bail at $100,000 money or $300,000 bond.
The allegedly delusional fan, a father of two daughters aged 18 and 5, had an erratic presence on X, the place he claimed that Johansson was his “fiancée,” expressed his love for her, and even thanked her for supposedly shopping for him “a automotive.” In November 2023, he wrote, “Don’t fear about something #SCARLETTINGRIDJOHANSSON I nonetheless haven’t cheated on you it doesn’t matter what the mind interface individuals inform you within the air waves!!! I like you honey I’m ready for you continue to in Hollywood.”
Branham’s lawyer asks for lowered bail
The general public defender for Braham, Jamie Niskanen-Singer of Authorized Assist requested for a lowered bail as he acknowledged that the alleged stalked had beforehand fallen sufferer to scams the place individuals posed as The Avenger actor and the threatening textual content could possibly be the identical scammer’s doing, as reported by the New York Submit.
In response to The New York Submit, the lawyer argued, “He has given out info. He could have been hacked, your honour. It’s very potential right here that there’s somebody that’s setting him up.” Furthermore, he additionally requested the decide to think about that his consumer has no historical past of weapon use.
Nonetheless, Decide Janet McDonnell was not satisfied. She stated, “Let’s keep in mind why we’re right here. We’re right here as a result of he threatened to bomb ‘Saturday Evening Reside,’ which is a violent bail-qualifying offense.” At his arraignment listening to, McDonnell granted orders of safety to each Johansson and Jost, regardless of objections from the defendant’s lawyer.
Jamie argued that the safety isn’t obligatory, as he stated, “Scarlett Johansson isn’t a sufferer or a witness to this crime. She didn’t see it, she didn’t hear it, she didn’t report it,” as reported by The New York Submit.
Johansson tried to acquire a restraining order in opposition to Branham final yr, who allegedly claimed to have fathered one in all her kids and made different weird assertions about her on social media. The 40-year-old actress acknowledged that Branham had been harassing her for over a yr, even exhibiting up at her dwelling in November 2023. Nonetheless, her request for cover was dismissed by a California courtroom in April 2024 resulting from her lawyer’s failure to serve him with the mandatory courtroom papers, as reported by The Blast.