Johnny Depp: Cancel culture is out of hand

Johnny Depp, who was ousted of Fantastic Beast franchise after being labelled “wife beater”, says “no one is safe”

Embattled Hollywood star Johnny Depp said he is a victim of cancel culture and that “no one is safe” any more. Depp addressed a press conference at the San Sebastian Film Festival where he was scheduled to receive the honorary Donostia Award. “It can be seen as an event in history that lasted for however long it lasted, this cancel culture, this instant rush to judgement based on what essentially amounts to polluted air,” he said ahead of receiving the honour.

A still from Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald

Cancel culture or call-out culture is a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles. “It’s so far out of hand now that I can promise you that no one is safe. Not one of you. It takes one sentence and there’s no more ground, the carpet has been pulled. It’s not just me that this has happened to, it has happened to a lot of people. This type of thing has happened to women, men. Sadly, at a certain point, they begin to think that it’s normal. Or that it’s them, when it’s not,” he added.

Also Read: Johnny Depp’s suit against Amber Heard to proceed despite UK ruling

Last year, when Depp lost the libel case with a UK tabloid over its branding of him as a “wife-beater”, the actor was dropped from the Fantastic Beasts 3, the multi-million film franchise from Warner Bros. Mads Mikkelsen replaced him as dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the film titled Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

Mads Mikkelsen. Pic/AFP

Depp also has a whopping $50 million defamation lawsuit against former wife-actor Amber Heard scheduled to go to trial in the US next year. “It doesn’t matter if a judgement, per se, has taken some artistic license. When there’s an injustice, whether it’s against you or someone you love, or someone you believe in, stand up, don’t sit down, cause they need you,” Depp said in what appeared to be a reference to his legal troubles.

One of the members of the press addressed the criticism of the festival for handing Depp a Donostia, particularly from Spain’s Association of Female Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media, which released a statement saying the award “transmits a terrible message to the public”. Depp later admitted he was concerned that his presence at the festival this year “would offend people” and that he “didn’t want to offend anyone”. “I haven’t done anything, I just make movies,” Depp added.

Also Read: Johnny Depp claims he is being boycotted by Hollywood

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