While answering questions at a prestigious film festival in Spain, Johnny Depp took the opportunity to vocalize how he had been the victim of cancel culture, which he states is a culture spread all throughout the film industry.
On Wednesday, at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Depp had a question-and-answer session with the reporters, and of course, the topic on everyone’s mind was that of him and Amber Heard. Heard, who is now Depp’s ex-wife, had allegations claiming that Depp had repeatedly domestically abused her. Due to these allegations, Depp has to face losing out on roles and opportunities within the industry.
His Statement
Depp, during this session, talked about how cancel culture is an incredibly complex ordeal, where people instantly rush towards placing judgment based off of statements that he compared to the term “polluted air.” He stated that no one is safe from the repercussions of cancel culture, which has gotten out of hand.
Criticism
After the allegations had been found substantially correct by a British Judge in the previous year, the organizers of the San Sebastian International Film Festival were criticized by several groups, including female filmmakers. The criticism came due to the fact that Depp had been awarded the Donostia Award, which is the biggest award of the event itself.
The Domestic Violence Case
The previous year, Depp had lost a case against a British Newspaper, which had accused Depp of the abuse. After the ruling, in the month of March, Depp’s permission the appeal the ruling was also rejected by the court, with the notion that his appeal had no real prospects of being a success. That is not all; after Heard wrote an op-ed essay regarding the abuse in the Washington Post, Depp has filed a lawsuit to sue her for fifty million dollars. However, the trial for this lawsuit has since then been delayed to be held in April of 2022.
The Press Conference
During this press conference, the reporters were asked to only stick to questions that pertained to the career of Johnny Depp, where the moderator had to block a question that mentioned the criticism of Depp’s award by an organization known as CIMA on Twitter. Depp stated that all it takes is one sentence to pull the ground from beneath your feet. He also talked about how it has not only happened to him rather to a wide variety of people, from men to women and even children, that it has happened to so many people that the unpleasantness is now thought of as the norm, even though it shouldn’t be.
Afterward, Depp said that he was at least glad that he had personally seen it coming. After being asked about the overall health of the film and cinema industry, specifically of Hollywood, Depp stated that it isn’t what it used to be. He claimed that people realize that they are disposable, just like him, where some are more disposable than others. So, the industry follows a motto of I will get mine no matter what.