Johnny Depp kicked out of the “Fantastic Beasts” cast

The consequences on his career were not long in coming: American actor Johnny Depp was asked to quit his role in “Fantastic Beasts” after losing his libel case against the British tabloid The Sun, which had him. described as an abusive husband.

The actor of “Edward in the Silver Hands” and “Pirate of the Caribbean” had taken big risks by attacking in defamation News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the daily newspaper The Sun which had accused him of hitting the actress Amber Heard.

After three weeks of trial in July, which had given rise to gloomy revelations about the private life of the 57-year-old comedian and his ex-wife, the High Court in London had ruled against Mr. Depp on Monday, considering that the Sun’s qualifications were “substantially true» car «the vast majority of alleged assaults had been proven».

«UK court surreal judgment won’t change my fight to tell the truth and I confirm I plan to appealJohnny Depp announced on his Instagram and Facebook accounts on Friday. He thanked his fans, “moved“By”many messagesOf support he received.

The trial had given rise to a great unpacking of the private life of the couple, revealing in broad daylight addiction to drugs, accusations of deception and even excrement found in the marital bed, to the delight of the English tabloids.

«My life and career won’t be defined by this moment in time, said the star, my resolve remains strong and I intend to prove that the accusations against me are false».

But his career has already suffered from the court decision: the actor explained that he was “asked to step down by Warner Bros. from the role of Grindelwald“For the next film” Fantastic Beasts “, which he has”accepted».

Divorce with a bang

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard met on the set of “Rum Express” in 2011, before getting married in February 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

The couple had divorced with a bang in early 2017. The actress of “Danish Girl” and “Aquaman” had then mentioned “years“Of violence”physical and psychological», Which her ex-husband has always denied.

Lawyers for Ms. Heard, summoned to appear as a witness, welcomed the outcome of the trial, saying that this court decision was “not a surprise”. They said they also wanted “get justiceIn the United States, where another procedure is underway.

Reputation lawyer Mark Stephens predicted that the move would “immense damage“To the reputation of the actor while”this is something that could have been dealt with discreetly, away from the spotlight».

It didn’t take long

«Johnny Depp to quit Fantastic Beasts franchiseA spokesperson for the Warner Bros. “We thank Johnny for his work on the films to date.», He added, explaining that the star would be replaced by another actor for this film which the world release is scheduled for summer 2022.

Johnny Depp was to play the villain, Gellert Grindelwald, again in the third installment of the series, after having played this role in “Fantastic Beasts” (2016) and its sequel, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” (2018 ).

These films, directed by David Yates and written by JK Rowling, are part of a series of five feature films that set in the same universe as the books and films with the young wizard Harry Potter as their heroes, but take place over several decades. earlier.

AFP