It’s not often Hollywood celebrities are right. In fact, they’re widely known for toeing the line of the establishment in order to continue to get work. But every now and then, a prominent “Hollyweird” celeb will say something that resonates — whether it was intentional or not — almost as a warning to the general public that if it can happen to them, it can certainly happen to you.
Actor Johnny Depp was speaking to reporters after receiving a “top career award” at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain, as reported by the Associated Press (AP), when he began to talk about “cancel culture” — a topic Depp knows about all too well.
It’s a very complex situation, this cancel-culture, or this instant rush to judgment based on essentially what amounts to polluted air that's exhaled[...]
It’s so far out of hand now that I can promise you that no one is safe. Not one of you. Not one of you [the reporters], not anyone out that door. No one is safe so long as someone is willing to say one sentence. It takes one sentence. And then there’s no more ground. The carpet’s been pulled.
Depp and his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, have been in and out courts over the last year or two over Heard’s allegations of domestic violence and Depp’s subsequent defense that Heard was actually the aggressor.
As for his comments, it goes to what I mentioned at the top. If cancel culture can come for the so-called “Hollywood elite,” then “no one is safe” from the social media mob.
For video of Depp's full comments, watch below (Note: Depp's "cancel culture" comments last from the 7:36 mark until the 13:45 mark):