When was the last time an actor assassinated a president, jokey Depp asks Glastonbury crowd
JOHNNY DEPP received a rock-star welcome when he appeared at Glastonbury — and then joked about assassinating Donald Trump.
The actor was at a drive-in cinema at the festival to introduce his 2004 film The Libertine, but began talking about the US president.
“I think he needs help and there are a lot of wonderful dark, dark places he could go,” Depp said to cheers from the 1,500-strong crowd.
“It is just a question — I’m not insinuating anything. By the way, this is going to be in the press. It will be horrible. I like that you are all a part of it.
“When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?”
The answer is John Wilkes Booth, who shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head at a theatre in Washington DC in 1865. “I want to qualify, I am not an actor. I lie for a living. However, it has been a while and maybe it is time,” Depp said.
Festivalgoers at Worthy Farm met his comments about Mr Trump with laughter. But on social media critics pointed out that a gunman shot and injured a Republican congressman, Steve Scalise, and four others in Washington a few days ago.
It is not the first time stars have joked about killing Mr Trump. At a rally in the US capital Madonna said she thought “an awful lot about blowing up the White House”.
Rapper Snoop Dogg shot a toy gun at a Trump character in a music video. Comedian Kathy Griffin was criticised this month after a photo of her holding a bloodied “dec apit ated” Trump mask was released. Last year, Depp played him in spoof called “Funny or Die Presents Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The Movie.” Depp’s appearance at Glastonbury comes in a tumultuous year, including an acrimonious divorce from Amber Heard and revelations about the dire state of his finances.
On his arrival, the 54-year-old actor was greeted by a horde of screaming fans holding phones. He smoked a cigarette as he posed for pictures, at one point jumping on a car bonnet. Introducing The Libertine — which tells the story of debauched poet the Second Earl of Rochester — he said: “Thank you so much for having me here. This is beautiful, chaotic, madness.
“I made the film because I wanted to try to bring to England a great poet that they missed ... he was written off as a jokester, a hoaxer. This guy is one of the deepest poets.”
Tonight Radiohead headline the Pyramid Stage supported by The XX, Royal Blood and Kris Kristofferson. Acts elsewhere include Dizzee Rascal, Clean Bandit and Status Quo performing their acoustic album Aquostic. @ benm_b
‘I think he needs help and there are a lot of wonderful dark, dark places he could go’ Johnny Depp jokes about killing Donald Trump, below