"Nobody is safe": On stage, Johnny Depp denounces the "cancel culture"
By receiving an award at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Johnny Depp denounced “cancel culture”.
No one is safe from a "hasty judgment" delivered in haste in the context of "cancel culture," said American actor Johnny Depp on Wednesday at the San Sebastián film festival in Spain where he received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Johnny Depp, who lost in 2020 a lawsuit against British tabloid The Sun which described him as an abusive husband towards his ex-wife, was answering questions from journalists at the San Sebastian film festival in northern Italy. Spain. Apparently alluding to the #Metoo movement which denounced the sexual harassment and rape committed against women by influential men, he said such campaigns had become "out of control".
“The various movements that have emerged, I am convinced with the best intentions, are however now so out of control that I can tell you that no one is immune,” he continued. He also denounced "this culture of cancellation (" cancel culture ") or this tendency to make a hasty judgment based essentially on what is similar to the polluted air exhaled.
"Hollywood underestimated the public in a grotesque way"
The American actor lost his defamation lawsuit in London last November against News Group Newspapers (NGN), a publisher of the Sun, which described him as a husband who had committed acts of violence against his ex- wife Amber Heard.
The sordid details brought up during the trial and the fact that Johnny Depp lost him have damaged his reputation. Following the judgment, the 57-year-old American actor had to give up his role in the next film in the series "Fantastic Beasts", adapted from the works of the author of Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling.
Feminist organizations and women working in the film industry have criticized the festival's decision to award Johnny Depp with the Donostia Prize which rewards his entire career. The star, who still denies having been violent towards Amber Heard, told reporters: "no one is safe."
He was also critical of the mainstream of American cinema. "I've been saying this for a long time, Hollywood underestimated audiences in a grotesque way." Previous recipients of the Donostia Prize, the festival's highest honor, include actors Meryl Streep, Richard Gere, Ian McKellen and Robert De Niro.
