Johnny Depp went on the record today saying that he is a victim of cancel culture and that “no one is safe” from the movement, calling on people to “stand up” for people facing “injustice”.
“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 commented ahead of receiving the honorary Donostia Award at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival.
“It’s so far out of hand now that I can promise you that no one is safe. Not one of you. No one out that door. No one is safe,” he continued. “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’s 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.”
In what appeared to be a reference to his high-profile libel case with UK newspaper The Sun over its branding of him as a “wife-beater”, which he lost last year, Depp said, “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.”
Fallout from the UK verdict included Warner Bros dropping Depp from its Fantastic Beasts franchise. The star has a blockbuster $50M defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard scheduled to go to trial in the U.S. next year; Heard is pursuing a $100M counterclaim. More on that here.
Depp was fairly low-energy during today’s press conference but seemed willing to engage with attending journalists, clapping everyone in the room when he arrived, and didn’t appear to have an issue with addressing sensitive topics, which tend to dog the actor at this stage in his career.
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