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Tag: Johnny Depp

  • Cancel culture is so far out of hand now that no one is safe: Johnny Depp

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: 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 on Wednesday where he was scheduled to receive the honorary Donostia Award, reported Deadline.

    “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.

    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. 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,” he added.

    Last year, when Depp lost the high-profile 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 multimillion film franchise from Warner Bros.

    Mads Mikkelsen replaced him as dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the film titled “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”, slated to be released in April. Depp also has a whopping USD 50 million defamation lawsuit against former wife, actor Amber Heard scheduled to go to trial in the US next year.

    “Aquaman” star Heard is pursuing a USD 100 million counterclaim.

    “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 attending the conference 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”.

    Before the actor could respond, the host of the event rejected the question out of hand and told the media to stick to questions about his career. 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”.

    He praised the event, its director Jose Luis Rebordinos, and the mayor of San Sebastian for their “undying support”. “I haven’t done anything, I just make movies,” Depp added.

    Asked about his views on Hollywood in recent years, the actor said the showbiz has “grotesquely underestimated the audience”. “Hollywood is certainly not what it was. The studio system, the grudge matches, the pandemonium and chaos of cinematic releases to streaming, it is a case of, ‘no matter what, I’m going to get mine’. That’s where these people are coming from,” he said.

    “They realise they’re just as disposable as I am. Some more so. Large, large corporations take control of these things. As someone who takes part in the creation of cinema, how much more formula do we need from the likes of studios? How much more condescension do we need as audiences?” he asked.

    French star Marion Cotillard also received a Donostia Award on the festival’s opening day last week. The San Sebastian International Film Festival, held in northern Spain, will run through Saturday.

  • Johnny Depp makes rare red carpet appearance amid legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: Hollywood star Johnny Depp hit the red carpet recently at the Deauville Film Festival amid his ongoing legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.

    According to Page Six, he attended a screening in north-western France of his film ‘City of Lies’, in which he has played a retired detective who is convinced the Los Angeles Police Department played a part in the 1997 murder of The Notorious B.I.G.

    The movie has also addressed the 1996 death of Biggie’s rap rival Tupac Shakur. The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star wore a navy suit and a matching fedora as he strolled the red carpet, stopping several times to take photos and sign autographs for fans in attendance.

    ‘City of Lies’ had first premiered in December 2018 out of competition at the Noir in Festival in Italy. It was initially intended to be released in the US in September 2018 before being hit with several delays, which were extended even further due to the COVID pandemic.

    The crime flick has since been made available on various streaming platforms and can be seen on Hulu in the US.

    Depp’s rare red carpet appearance comes weeks after a Virginia judge ruled the actor could proceed with pressing libel charges against Heard over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed that the ‘Aquaman’ star penned claiming she had been a victim of domestic violence during their marriage.

    Depp has claimed that Heard’s accusations have resulted in him being “blacklisted” by Hollywood, which he believes to be the reason his latest film, ‘Minamata’, has yet to open in US theatres. The Oscar nominee and Heard were married from 2015 to 2017 and were embroiled in a nasty divorce proceeding that included numerous allegations of abuse.

    As per Page Six, the exes have both denied mistreating each other, though they acknowledged in a joint statement in 2016 that their “relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile.”

  • Johnny Depp claims being boycotted by Hollywood after domestic violence allegations

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, who lost a libel case last year over an article that called him a ‘wife-beater’, claimed that he is being boycotted by the industry.

    According to Variety, in a recent interaction with The Sunday Times, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star talked about the behaviour of the members of Hollywood towards him and the status of his film ‘Minamata’ in the US.

    “Some films touch people and this affects those in ‘Minamata’ and people who experience similar things…And for anything … for Hollywood’s boycott of me? One man, one actor in an unpleasant and messy situation, over the last number of years?” he said.

    For the unversed, last year, Depp lost a libel case against British tabloid The Sun, which referred to the actor as a ‘wife beater’ in an article about him and his ex-wife Amber Heard. The court ruled that the paper proved the content of its article to be ‘substantially true’ and the judge found that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence had occurred. Depp also lost a bid to overturn the High Court ruling in March this year.

    After the case, the actor was dropped by Warner Bros. from its ‘Fantastic Beasts’ franchise and was replaced with Mads Mikkelsen in the role of evil wizard Grindelwald.

    Despite being surrounded by controversies, Depp has not lost hope.

    “Moving towards where I need to go to make all that… to bring things to light,” he added.

    Coming back to his movie ‘Minamata’, actually, it had an international premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February but has not yet been released for American audiences.

  • Mads Mikkelsen would have ‘loved to have talked’ to Johnny Depp about taking over Grindelwald role

    By PTI
    LONDON: Danish star Mads Mikkelsen says he wishes he could have spoken to Johnny Depp about stepping in to play the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald following his exit from the upcoming third film in the fantasy film series “Fantastic Beasts”.

    Mikkelsen was tapped in as Depp’s replacement after the American actor lost a major libel suit relating to abuse allegations by former wife, actor Amber Heard against a UK newspaper last November.

    Though he doesn’t know if Depp losing the role was fair, Mikkelsen said he knew the third film was still on track.

    “I mean, obviously, they were going to do the film, and obviously he was not involved any more,” the “Another Round” star said of Depp.

    “But I didn’t have a dog in that fight. And I don’t know what happened (in his private life), and I don’t know if it was fair, him losing the job, but I just knew that the show was going on, and I would’ve loved to have talked to him about it if I had the chance, but I just don’t know him in that sense,” Mikkelsen, 55, told The Times.

    The actor, known for Hollywood films “Casino Royale” and “Doctor Strange”, and Danish movies “The Hunt” and “Pusher”, was rumoured to be playing Grindelwald in the yet-to-be-titled “Fantastic Beasts 3” late last year.

    The studio Warner Bros Pictures confirmed his casting a week after the reports surfaced online.

    The makers were in a “hurry” to get the project going, said Mikkelsen.

    “But they called me and they were obviously in a hurry, and I loved the script and so said yes. And I know it was controversial for many people, but that’s just the way it plays out once in a while,” he continued.

    The actor reiterated that he wants to add his own touch to the character of Grindelwald while retaining a few links with how Depp played the role.

    “I didn’t want to copy what Johnny had done. I think he’s a masterful actor, so copying him would’ve been creative suicide,” he said.

    “I had to figure out something that was definitely my own, and yet also act as a bridge to what he had done. My take is different, and the look is a little different, but we’ll have to wait for the film’s release (next year) to find out,” he added.

    Mikkelsen is currently working on “Indian Jones 5”.

    Fronted by Hollywood veteran Harrison Ford, the fifth film in the popular action adventure franchise is set to be released in the summer of 2022.

  • Intruder breaks into Johnny Depp’s home, has shower and drink

    By IANS
    LOS ANGELES: An unidentified man broke inside the home of actor Johnny Depp in Hollywood Hills. Local cops got a call from a neighbour who spotted a homeless man hanging out in the backyard near the pool.

    The neighbour told police the man took off when confronted and hopped a gate, which actually got him closer to the 57-year-old star’s house, according to a report in TMZ.

    When the cops arrived, the accused was taking a shower, and refused to open the door, when he was asked to do so by the cops. The report states that the intruder also made a drink from himself from the actor’s collection.

    He is being booked for felony vandalism for a broken door.

    Back in January, an unidentified woman had broken into the actor’s house.