J.K Rowling’s decision to cast Johnny Depp as Fantastic Beasts 2 antagonist Gellert Grindelwald has been met with pretty heavy controversy.
For context: Depp had domestic abuse allegations made against him by his ex-wife Amber Heard, resulting in a number of people being upset that he’d been cast in a series and production like Harry Potter that is generally viewed as progressive.
In response to the backlash of casting Depp, both Fantastic Beasts director David Yates and J.K Rowling released statements supporting the decision to cast him in the role. Warner Bros. also spoke on the subject, releasing a post containing lines from the joint-statement that both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard worked on together, which they released after their case was settled.
Warner Bros. cited a particular line in their settlement’s statement..
“There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm.”
This prompted a response from Heard, in which she expressed disappointment with Warner Bros. for having only cited one line of the joint-statement, and shared the full image of the statement to her Twitter:
For the record, this was our FULL joint statement.To pick&choose certain lines & quote them out of context, is not right.Women, stay strong. pic.twitter.com/W7Tt6A3ROj
— Amber Heard (@realamberheard) December 8, 2017
The case ended up being settled in a rather peaceful manner; Heard dismissed her abuse allegations against her former husband, and following this she retracted her request for a restraining order.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Depp has spoken out on the issue, expressing regret for Rowling having felt the need to defend his casting. Depp has remained concrete in his statements of innocence in regards to any allegations from his former wife Amber Heard and mentions that he’s actively suing The Sun for defamation.
Source: Warner Bros.
