The initial casting of Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise stirred up plenty of debate among Harry Potter fans, who were concerned about production company Warner Bros. employing an actor who had allegedly physically and verbally abused his ex-wife Amber Heard. This past week, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter author and screenwriter of the first two Fantastic Beasts movies, defended Depp’s involvement in the films, saying in her own statement, “The agreements that have been put in place to protect the privacy of two people, both of whom have expressed a desire to get on with their lives, must be respected. 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.”
Warner Bros., speaking on behalf of Fantastic Beasts director David Yates and producer David Heyman, agreed, saying in a statement, “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.”
Now, Heard has addressed these comments in a quiet but defiant way, Cosmopolitan says. Posting an image of the joint statement she and Depp released when they settled their divorce case and Heard dismissed allegations of Depp’s domestic violence in August 2016, she wrote on Instagram, “For the record, this was our FULL joint statement.”
Obviously referring to Warner Bros. only citing the statement’s claim of there never being an intent of harm in their relationship, Heard wrote in her caption, “To pick and choose certain lines and quote them out of context, is just not right. Women, continue to stand up and stay strong.”
As opposed to the excerpt Warner Bros. used in its defense of Depp, Heard’s image of the joint statement emphasized that her relationship with Depp “was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love.”
Before the past week’s statements about Depp’s role in the films, director Yates previously said to Entertainment Weekly, “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…By testament, some of the women in [Depp’s] life have said the same thing—‘that’s not the human being we know.’ It’s very different [than cases] where there are multiple accusers over many years that need to be examined and we need to reflect on our industry that allows that to roll on year in and year out.”
The sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which will likely feature Depp in a prominent role, hits theaters on Nov. 16, 2018.