Johansson hits back at media "sexism"

Scarlett Johansson has claimed that media reports about her contact with Barack Obama were "sexist".

Speaking in June, the actress revealed that she had exchanged emails with the US presidential candidate and described his commitment as "amazing".

Sources close to the star were later forced to deny claims that she favoured Obama because of his looks.

In a new interview with the New York Daily News, Johansson complained: "I kept thinking to myself, 'God, if this was just like George Clooney or any of the other [Obama] surrogates or supporters, there wouldn't be any question about it. Nobody would even talk about it. It seemed to me to be like a product of extreme sexism."

Obama has played down speculation about his correspondence with the actress, insisting that he replied to just one email.