Amber Heard has chimed in on the backlash to her ex-husband’s controversial casting in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald after J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. defended the decision to continue employing him.
Taking to social media Thursday night, Heard wrote about the statement that she and Depp released after they reached a settlement in their divorce proceedings last year.
“For the record, this was our FULL joint statement,” she wrote. “To pick and choose certain lines and quote them out of context, is just not right. Women, continue to stand up and stay strong.”
https://twitter.com/realamberheard/status/938975040711794689
In a photo posted to Twitter and Instagram, Heard reprinted the statement in its entirety.
Some took Heard’s post as a dig toward Rowling, who released her statement supporting Depp’s continued employment after Heard said that Depp abused her during their marriage. While fans found much contained in Rowling’s awkwardly worded statement to be appalling, it doesn’t use Heard’s words at all.
Her post is instead directed at Warner Bros., the studio behind two of her films Justice League and the upcoming Aquaman, which also released a quote supporting Depp. The Warner Bros. statement (courtesy of Deadline) takes a line from Heard and Depp’s 2016 settlement statement to illustrate that the allegations made in the divorce proceedings were addressed and taken care of.
“We are of course aware of reports that surfaced around the end of Johnny Depp’s marriage, and take seriously the complexity of the issues involved.
“This matter has been jointly addressed by both parties, in a statement in which they said ‘there was never any intent of physical or emotional harm.’
Based on the circumstances and the information available to us, we, along with the filmmakers, continue to support the decision to proceed with Johnny Depp in the role of Grindelwald in this and future films.”
After releasing that statement, Heard faced further scrutiny in the press after she was accused of going back on her word to donate her divorce settlement to charity, which she denied. Their divorce wasn’t officially finalized until January 2017, several months after Heard and Depp released their joint statement.
Rowling and Warner Bros.’ Depp statements arrived after growing outrage from many Harry Potter fans because the studio was supporting an alleged domestic abuser. Director David Yates’ defense of Depp appeared to make the situation worse as fans interpreted his statement as a case of victim blaming.
Rowling spoke out on Thursday after weeks of keeping silent and, after revealing that she and Yates considered recasting the role, said that she was “genuinely happy” to be working with Depp.
H/T Daily Mail
