IT’S GETTING OUT OF HAND, SAYS JOHNNY DEPP

Actor lashes out at MeToo movements

Johnny Depp took a swing at the cancel culture and what he described as “the instant rush to judgement” while accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at a Spanish film Festival on Wednesday.

Depp, who last year lost a libel case against a British newspaper that labelled him a “wife-beater”, was responding to questions from journalists at the San Sebastian Film Festival. In an apparent reference to the #Metoo movement that targeted the sexual harassment and assault of women by powerful men, he suggested that things had got out of hand.

“The various movements that came out, I'm sure with the best of intentions — however it’s so far out of hand now that I can promise you that no one is safe,” he said.

The three-time Oscar nominee had sued the publisher of The Sun, a British tabloid, over claims that he was violent to his ex-wife Amber Heard during their volatile two-year marriage.

The whole episode damaged his reputation and Depp said he was asked to step down from his role in the Fantastic Beasts film franchise based on the book by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. He continues to deny he was violent towards Heard.

Women’s rights groups and some women in the film industry have criticised the festival’s decision to hand Depp the Donostia Award “in recognition of his career”.

Past recipients of the award — the festival’s highest honor — include Meryl Streep, Richard Gere, Ian McKellen and Robert De Niro.

“The various movements that came out, I'm sure with the best of intentions — however it’s so far out of hand now that I can promise you that no one is safe,”

—Johnny Depp, actor.