Helena Bonham Carter talks 'vindication' of Johnny Depp and cancel culture

Helena Bonham Carter has addressed her hatred of ‘cancel culture’ as she discussed the 'witch hunt' against Depp and Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

Speaking to The Times in a new interview, Carter, who has appeared alongside Depp, 59, in seven films together, claimed, “Oh, I think he’s completely vindicated.”

“You can't ban people. I hate cancel culture. It has become quite hysterical and there's a kind of witch-hunt and a lack of understanding,” she said.

Carter referenced Depp’s explosive defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. The Pirates of the Caribbean star had sued the Aquaman actor, alleging that she had defamed him in a 2018 op-ed about domestic violence published by the Washington Post.

A jury ultimately found that Heard had defamed Depp, and she was ordered to pay her ex-husband $10m (£8m) in compensatory damages and $5m (£4m) in punitive damages.

“Oh, I think he’s completely vindicated,” the Fight Club actor said. “I think he’s fine now. Totally fine.”

Asked if the libel case was the “pendulum of #MeToo swinging back”, Carter replied, “My view is that [Heard] got on that pendulum. That’s the problem with these things – that people will jump on the bandwagon because it’s the trend and to be the poster girl for it.”

Carter, who played Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter film franchise, based on the books by Rowling, addressed the criticism and backlash over the author and said, “It’s horrendous, a load of [expletive].”

“I think [Rowling] has been hounded. It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmentalism of people. She’s allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse,” she added.