Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was probably the last person on earth that Amber Heard had expected to be publicly clapping back to, but that's 2017 in a nutshell for all of us.
The Justice League star took to Twitter to respond to Rowling's comments about casting Johnny Depp, her ex-husband, in the next installment of the Fantastic Beasts series. "For the record, this was our FULL joint statement.To pick & choose certain lines & quote them out of context, is not right. Women, stay strong," wrote Heard, along with an accompanying text image of their public divorce statement.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Heard accused Depp of alleged domestic abuse in 2016, documenting an incident during which Heard said she "truly feared for my life." Her friend, iO Tillet Wright described calling the police for Heard after an assault in an essay for Refinery29. Depp's former manager also confirmed that he witnessed Depp abuse Heard and was asked to cover it up. Depp has denied the allegations.
For the record, this was our FULL joint statement.To pick&choose certain lines & quote them out of context, is not right.Women, stay strong. pic.twitter.com/W7Tt6A3ROj
— Amber Heard (@realamberheard) December 8, 2017
Earlier this week, Rowling said that "based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies."
Fans were disappointed to see that Depp was cast to play Grindelwald, and even campaigned to have him replaced with Colin Farrell. They were also concerned when it appeared that Rowling was blocking social media comments there were critical of the Depp casting.
Both Rowling and David Yates, director of the film, defended Depp. Yates said that "with Johnny, it seems to me there was one person who took a pop at him and claimed something. 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. Whatever accusation was out there doesn’t tally with the kind of human being I’ve been working with."
It is complicated when two people have glaringly opposite things to say about an individual. At the end of the day, it should be noted that Depp can be both an alleged abuser and and be "full of decency and kindness." His professionalism on the set of Fantastic Beasts doesn't cancel out Heard's story. Ultimately, believing women should be the default position. Once we begin from there, we can asses situations based on their individual complexities.