Hasta La Gadget!

Scarlett Johansson has addressed the casting controversy surrounding her new film, “Ghost in the Shell,” for a second time. 

In an interview with Michael Strahan on “Good Morning America,” the actress defended her role, saying, “This character is living a very unique experience, she is a human brain in an entirely machine body, she is essentially identity-less.”

Johansson’s casting in the film, which is based on Masamune Shirow’s popular Japanese comic, has sparked plenty of controversy since it was first announced. The actress plays Major (known in the comic as Major Motoko Kusanagi), who has traditionally been portrayed as an Asian woman. The film has been accused of whitewashing Asian characters on multiple occasions, but the actress and the film’s producer continue to defend it. 

“I would never attempt to play a person of a different race,” Johansson told Strahan. “Hopefully any question that comes up of my casting will hopefully be answered by audiences when they see the film.”

Johansson’s comments very closely echo the responses she gave to Marie Claire earlier this year. She told the magazine almost the exact same thing: “I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.”

In both that Marie Claire interview and on “GMA,” Johansson seemingly turned the conversation toward sexism in Hollywood. 

“I’m not afraid to say what I feel is right just because I think I might face criticism, or some people might not like me,” she said on “GMA.” “If fighting for women’s rights, if that will mean some people don’t want to buy a ticket to see ‘Ghost in [the] Shell,’ then I’m okay with that.” 

Of course, Hollywood’s inequality problem is one that needs to be discussed, but as we’ve said before, celebrating her casting in a major franchise as a win for equality in Hollywood as opposed to speaking about the real issue at hand ―whitewashing in the industry ― is another case of white feminism. 

The problem with Johansson’s reasoning is this: it’s not necessarily her feminist activism that might stop people from seeing “Ghost in the Shell.” It’s instead the fact that many people don’t wish to support an industry that casts a white woman in a role plenty of Asian actresses could have could filled. 

Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Tracy Morgan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Moore, Padma Lakshmi and a whole host of other stars are teaming up for Stand for Rights: A Benefit for the ACLU. Donate now and join us at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, March 31, on Facebook Live. #standforrights2017 

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Actress Katey Sagal cemented her place as a television icon with her role as big-haired, sex-starved housewife and mom Peg Bundy on “Married With Children.” Now with her new memoir Grace Notes, which came out on March 21, she’s opening up about her experiences with real-life motherhood.

Sagal had two children, 22-year-old Sarah and 21-year-old Jackson, with her second husband Jack White (who has no relation to the White Stripes frontman). When she married a third husband in 2004, “Sons of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter, the couple initially wasn’t planning to have children of their own.  

“When Kurt and I first got together, he wasn’t interested in having any more children,” Sagal told People Magazine. “He was happy being the stepparent to Sarah and Jackson. But he’d never had his own biological children, so about five years into the relationship we started toying with the idea of maybe we should raise a child together.”

“At this point I was too old to carry a child,” continued Sagal, who was 52 when she and Sutton became parents 10 years ago. “So at first we explored adoption, but that proved to be way more difficult than I expected.”

The couple decided to use a surrogate and welcomed baby Esme Louise Sutter in 2007. Esme is now 10. 

“We headed down the adoption road at the same time were were investigating the surrogacy road and left it up to whatever happened first, because we weren’t attached to either way,” Segal told OK! Magazine in 2007. “Our surrogacy situation just fell into place really easily.”

She says now to People, “We went through the whole in vitro fertilization process and our embryos were not really strong, but we thought, ‘Let’s give it a shot and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.’ And if it wasn’t, we weren’t going to do it. But then our little Esme came through. That’s why we call her our little miracle, our beautiful miracle.”

Shortly after the birth, Segal told OK! Magazine that it had been a “beautiful experience” and that she held Esme while Sutter held the cord. Sutter, Segal, the surrogate and her husband were all present for the birth.

Sagal’s memoir also documents her road to sobriety from drugs and alcohol and the tragic stillbirth of her first child, Ruby Alexandra, in 1989. 

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“I tell all the guys: The NFL stands for ‘Not For Long,’” says defensive end Ricky Jean Francois, who recently signed with the Green Bay Packers.

Jean Francois wasn’t supposed to be an exception to that rule. A seventh-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2009, Jean Francois ― now on his fourth contract with his fourth team ― just completed his seventh season.

Sustaining a career in the NFL is not easy. The average career lasts just over 3 years, the lowest of any of the four main sports in the U.S., and that includes practice squad players who never even play in a game. Also, NFL contracts are not guaranteed, meaning players ― even stars ― can be cut at any time.

Before inking a deal with the Packers, Jean Francois enjoyed two productive seasons with the Washington Redskins, playing in all 32 possible games, seven of which he started, while recording 57 tackles, including 3.5 sacks.

Just how rare is such production from a seventh-round selection?

According to a 2015 study by Forbes, the median of “percentage of games started” by seventh-round picks from the 2010 draft from 2010-2015 is 0 percent. In other words, the mere fact that Jean Francois has become a starter while more than doubling the NFL career average is almost unheard of.

As a result, the tech-obsessed 30-year-old ― who was cut by Washington despite having one more year on his contract ― has a unique perspective when looking ahead to life after pro football. Despite being a star player and winning a national title at college football powerhouse Louisiana State University, he knew the odds of a career weren’t especially high. 

Developing his business acumen became a priority for him early on.

“During my rookie season, I spent a lot of money,” he says. “I was like, ‘Do I really want to be this type of guy?’ I didn’t want to just spend money, because you won’t get it back. … The next year you couldn’t pay me to spend a dime.

“After I signed a contract with the Colts [in 2013], I realized that I needed a retirement plan.” 

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, 78 percent of NFL players go broke within three years of retirement and 15.7 percent file for bankruptcy within 12 years of retirement.

The 6-foot-3, 313-pound Jean Francois ― this year’s proud recipient of the Redskins’ Media Good Guy Award ― did not want to become one of those statistics.

So Jean Francois started to ask around the league ― talking to veterans, coaches and anyone who would offer advice. He started to educate himself, going through an assortment of different business and economic publications. Forbes, Fortune and Bloomberg are his favorites.

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With the help of his financial manager, he then purchased a Dunkin’ Donuts location in Georgia. Before long, he owned 25 franchises throughout the South, and he still has plans to expand to Houston. He committed himself to the business in every offseason, understanding the nuances of the business as he would an NFL playbook. At first, it was a grueling process, learning about projections and parsing through spreadsheets. But soon, it became second nature. He still feels a thrill every time one of his stores beats the sales projections.

“It opened up another world I didn’t know existed,” Jean Francois adds. 

“I have to be hands-on so I can see everything grow. I gotta learn how to do it myself.”

When challenges ― such as consistency in the product and service ― presented themselves, Jean Francois leaned on his football background and his experience working with a team. But he’s never had a problem with a single employee.

“Football helped me mentally, because I had to get my mind right,” he says.

“Making sure everybody has a positive vibe,” Jean Francois says, is paramount. “I gotta make sure that I set the mindset of people in there to be happy. Teamwork is the most important thing. It can make things work better. In other words, if football is a brotherhood, business is a community.

“[Business] helped me become a better person,” he says. “Business makes you open up as a person, because now you’re more well-rounded. Early on in the NFL, you get influenced by the Rolls-Royces, the Ferraris, the Lambos. The next thing you know, you’re broke and out of the league.”

And while business has made Jean Francois smarter and more focused, it was the birth of his son six months ago that changed his perception of life. 

“My son ― when he looks at me, I want to be the right father figure,” Jean Francois says. “He inspires me. I thought I grew up already, but when he came along, I was like, ‘Okay, I really didn’t grow up.’ When I look at him, it all makes sense.”

These days, Jean Francois ― who is of Haitian descent ― sees inspiration everywhere, including in frequent trips to the small Caribbean island nation as a means of giving back to local communities in need.

But the question still remains: What will life after football look like?

His $3 million deal with the Packers is only for the 2017-18 season. Then, he’s not sure where he’s headed, but he does have one big idea, despite lacking any tangible experience within the stock market.

“I’d like start a hedge fund,” Jean Francois says.

Another option, though, is heading back to school.

He wants to earn an Executive MBA in his hometown at the University of Miami, through a new Artists and Athletes program that has drawn rave reviews. Created in 2015 and aimed in large part toward football players, it employs a schedule that allows players to train early in the morning before going to nine hours of classes complemented by late-night study sessions.

To be sure, it’s no easy task, but Jean Francois certainly thinks it can be done. Fellow defensive end Carlos Dunlap for instance, earned Pro Bowl honors for the Cincinnati Bengals this year, while also completing his MBA.

And considering Jean Francois is already acing statistics, why would anyone doubt him?

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Email me at jordan.schultz@huffingtonpost.com, ask me questions about anything sports-related on Twitter at @Schultz_Report, and follow me on Instagram at @Schultz_Report.

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Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has cleared the first major hurdle for holding a new referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.

Her bid for a vote on secession won by 69 to 59 votes in Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, just one day before British Prime Minister Theresa May will initiate the process for Brexit, Britain’s departure from the European Union.

Brexit backlash is what drove Sturgeon and her Scottish National Party to push for another independence vote ― Scotland’s second in less than three years ― to potentially save Scots from being pulled out of the EU against their will.

Nearly two-thirds of Scottish voters opted to stay in the bloc during the historic Brexit referendum last June, when 51.9 percent of British voters chose to leave.

“We didn’t choose to be in this position, [and] in common with most people across the country, I wish that we weren’t in this position,” Sturgeon said earlier this month, upon vowing to ensure Scots “have a choice” in deciding their future. “A choice of whether to follow the U.K. to a hard Brexit, or to become an independent country able to secure a real partnership of equals with the rest of the U.K. and our own relationship with Europe.”

Scots rejected independence in a referendum in 2014, before Britain had announced the Brexit vote would occur. The circumstances are different now, Sturgeon insists, and therefore Scotland needs the chance to reconsider its democratic options. She wants “IndyRef2” to be held once the terms of Brexit are clear, but before it takes effect.

The countdown begins on Wednesday, when May will trigger Brexit proceedings by officially informing EU leaders of Britain’s intention to withdraw from the bloc. The U.K. will then have up to two years to negotiate an exit deal with the EU before it must leave.

Sturgeon’s next step in her unwavering pursuit of a new secession referendum is to win approval from British Parliament, but May is unlikely to grant it at this time ― she has repeatedly asserted that “now is not the time,” and Brits “should be working together, not pulling apart.” 

Even if Scots do get the chance to vote on their sovereignty again, leaving the U.K. in hopes of rejoining the EU as an independent nation could be a risky venture. Scotland’s readmission to the bloc would not be automatic; it would have to reapply and win unanimous approval from EU members.

Some member states, including France and Spain, have already tried to discourage Scotland from attempting to negotiate with the EU as a new state.

Learn more about the referendum bid here.

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Over the last couple of decades, Amazon has slowly conquered the online retail space. The Seattle-based e-commerce company has made it possible to purchase any thing from books to live ladybugs within seconds. But the site hasn’t seen the same succes…