Fantastic Beasts director: Johnny Depps domestic violence is a dead issue
I usually like to gloss over my disinterest and apathy towards the Harry Potter/Fantastic Beast universes, but here you go: I don’t really care. I haven’t read the books or seen the movies. I have no opinion: smart people say JK Rowling is a genius and the worlds she created are brilliant, and I believe all of that is true. I’d just rather read my murder mysteries and detective stories, honestly. Anyway, that’s my way of admitting that I wasn’t really engaged with all of the drama about Johnny Depp being cast in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
When the first image of the ensemble came out a few months ago, fans of the series were seriously pissed off, and those same fans were pissed when Depp was initially cast too. It’s not just that Depp is currently devalued as a movie star – it’s that he’s still getting high-profile work on big projects, even after Amber Heard told the world that he’s an abusive monster and, OH RIGHT, his management team and handlers knew all about his violence against her. So are people going to write off this franchise now that Depp is involved? Probably not. But it’s still a really terrible idea to send the director, David Yates, out to do “damage control” on Depp’s casting. This is what Yates told Entertainment Weekly:
Yates on the “accusations” against Depp for domestic violence: “Honestly, there’s an issue at the moment where there’s a lot of people being accused of things, they’re being accused by multiple victims, and it’s compelling and frightening,. With Johnny, it seems to me there was one person who took a pop at him and claimed something. I can only tell you about the man I see every day: He’s full of decency and kindness, and that’s all I see. Whatever accusation was out there doesn’t tally with the kind of human being I’ve been working with.”
Yates believes women… when those women say they haven’t been abused: Yates added several of Depp’s exes have come forward to publicly defend him, including Vanessa Paradis, Lori Anne Allison and Winona Ryder — who said Depp was “never abusive at all … I only know him as a really good, loving, caring guy” during their four-year relationship. “By testament, some of the women in [Depp’s] life have said the same thing — ‘that’s not the human being we know.’ It’s very different [than cases] where there are multiple accusers over many years that need to be examined and we need to reflect on our industry that allows that to roll on year in and year out. Johnny isn’t in that category in any shape or form. So to me, it doesn’t bear any more analysis. It’s a dead issue.”
Nope. Canceled. David Yates is canceled. Johnny Depp was canceled a while ago, but you should definitely double-check to make sure you renew your cancellation forms. What the sh-t is this domestic violence apologia? “With Johnny, it seems to me there was one person who took a pop at him and claimed something.” FFS, Amber didn’t “take a pop at him.” She filed for divorce after he violently assaulted her. If you remember correctly, she first tried to deal with the divorce situation quietly, through a private mediation, and he refused to settle it quietly, and that’s when she went public. And as I said in the opening paragraphs: Depp’s ex-managers KNEW ALL ABOUT THE ABUSE. They even know that Depp’s handlers were helping cover up his crimes against Heard. Yates’ whole argument seems to come down to “well, IF he did abuse her, he only abused her and no one else, so it’s fine, plus she’s a lying scheming bitch, or so I heard.” Canceled.
Photos courtesy of ‘Fantastic Beasts’ & Getty.
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