Beasts director defends Depp

Director David Yates is defending keeping Johnny Depp as a star of the Fantastic Beasts sequel despite allegations of physical abuse by his ex-wife.

“Honestly, there’s an issue at the moment where there’s a lot of people being accused of things, (but) with Johnny, it seems to me there was one person who took a pop at him and claimed something,” Yates told Entertainment Weekly, referring to Depp’s ex Amber Heard. “I can only tell you about the man I see every day: he’s full of decency and kindness, and that’s all I see.”

Yates differentiated Heard’s accusations against Depp from those made about men including Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey.

“Johnny isn’t in that category in any shape or form,” he said.

Heard separated from Depp in May 2016, alleging domestic abuse.

Depp is to have a more prominent role in the Beasts sequel, The Crimes of Grindelwald, slated for release on Nov. 16, 2018. USA Today the Pentagon Papers, that collected the top prizes: Best Film, along with Best Actor and Actress for Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. Greta Gerwig also won big, landing Best Director for Lady Bird, which also garnered a Best Supporting Actress award for Laurie Metcalf. Timothée Chalamet,