“I think he’s fine now. Totally fine.”
Helena Bonham Carter, who has worked alongside Johnny Depp in several films, has launched an impassioned defence of the actor, while also blasting ‘cancel culture’ and finding some kind words for controversial Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
Plenty of high-profile celebrities have shown support for Johnny Depp in recent months, either during the headline-making trial between Depp and Amber Heard, or after the verdict came through.
Whether it’s Paul McCartney using a video of Depp at his live shows, Rihanna including him as part of a fashion campaign, or fresh rumours of his return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, it appears the 59-year-old still has plenty of friends in high places.
And those friends clearly include Helena Bonham Carter.
In a new interview with the UK Times, Bonham Carter – who has appeared onscreen alongside Depp in films such as Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, and Dark Shadows – Tim Burton must have worked overtime on the casting for those movies, eh? – moved to defend Depp in the strongest of terms.
“Do you ban a genius for their sexual practices?” she asked, making a general point about the impact that someone’s personal life may have on their professional one.
“There would be millions of people who if you looked closely enough at their personal life you would disqualify them. You can’t ban people. I hate cancel culture. It has become quite hysterical and there’s a kind of witch hunt and a lack of understanding.”
Asked about Depp specifically, Bonham Carter said she believes he is now “completely vindicated” following the outcome of his recent trial. “I think he’s fine now,” she added. “Totally fine.”
Later, Bonham Carter spoke about J.K. Rowling, who has frequently been criticised for comments she has made that have been judged to be transphobic.
“It’s horrendous, a load of bollocks. I think she has been hounded,” Bonham Carter said.
“It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmentalism of people. She’s allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse. Everybody carries their own history of trauma and forms their opinions from that trauma and you have to respect where people come from and their pain.
“You don’t all have to agree on everything — that would be insane and boring. She’s not meaning it aggressively, she’s just saying something out of her own experience.”
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