Johnny Depp Rails Against Cancel Culture: ‘No One Is Safe. Not One of You.’
Zack Sharf
Johnny Depp appeared at the San Sebastian Film Festival this week to receive the event’s honorary Donostia Award, and he used the corresponding press conference to rail against cancel culture (via Deadline). The actor told attendees that “no one is safe” from cancel culture and that people must “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,” Depp said. “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.”
Depp 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. Children have suffered from various types of unpleasantries. Sadly at a certain point they begin to think that it’s normal. Or that it’s them. When it’s not.”
The actor concluded, “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.”
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor notably lost a libel case last year against The Sun, which referred to Depp as a “wife beater” while covering his divorce from Amber Heard. Depp told The Sunday Times in August that he is being boycotted by Hollywood. After The Sun verdict, Depp exited Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts” franchise and was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen. The actor’s latest film, the Andrew Levitas-directed drama “Minimata,” has not been dated for release. Levitas alleged MGM was “burying” the movie because it “was concerned about the possibility that the personal issues of an actor in the film could reflect negatively upon them.”
San Sebastian’s decision to honor Depp with its lifetime achievement award sparked backlash earlier this year. Spain’s Association of Female Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media condemned the decision, with the organization’s president saying, “This speaks very badly of the festival and its leadership, and transmits a terrible message to the public: ‘It doesn’t matter if you are an abuser as long as you are a good actor.’”
José Luis Rebordinos, the director of the San Sebastian Film Festival, defended the decision to honor Depp, saying, “In these present times, when lynching on social media is rife, we will always defend two basic principles which form part of our culture and of our body of laws: that of the presumption of innocence and that of the right to reintegration. According to the proven data which we have to hand, Johnny Depp has not been arrested, charged, nor convicted of any form of assault or violence against any woman. We repeat: He has not been charged by any authority in any jurisdiction, nor convicted of any form of violence against women.”
