Johnny Depp says 'no one is safe' as he calls himself a victim of 'cancel culture'

Johnny Depp took a stand for himself at San Sebastian Film Festival as he interacted with the press while accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award. The actor said that he was a victim of the 'cancel culture', adding that 'no one was safe' from it. Depp's career has been on a downfall ever since his legal feud with ex-wife Amber Heard and the UK newspaper The Sun who called him a 'wife-beater'. Post his much-publicized legal battle Depp was removed from the Fantastic Beasts 3 movie leading to an outrage by fans who called out Warner Bros. for its hypocrisy as Heard was still cast in Aquaman 3.

Johnny Depp talks about being a victim of 'cancel culture'

While accepting the honorary Donostia Award at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival, Johnny Depp spoke about 'cancel culture' and said that no one was safe. As per a report by Deadline, the Pirates of The Caribbean actor said, "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 added, "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. 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." Johnny Depp was also asked about stepping into his most-popular role of Captain Jack Sparrow. To this, Depp responded that the character would never leave him and that no one could ever take the character away from him. 

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard lawsuit

In June 2018, Depp brought a lawsuit in the UK against the Sun, which had called him a "wife-beater" in an April 2018 article. The case had a highly publicized trial in July 2020, with both Depp and Heard testifying for several days. In November 2020, the High Court of Justice ruled that 12 of the 14 incidents of violence claimed by Heard were ”substantially true” The court rejected Depp's claim of a hoax and accepted that the allegations Heard had made against Depp. In early 2019, Depp sued Heard for defamation over an article she wrote about her experiences of leaving an abusive relationship, which was published by the Washington Post in December 2018. Depp alleged that Heard had been the abuser and that her allegations constituted a hoax against him. Heard denied Depp's claims. The case is scheduled to go to trial in 2022.

Image: AP