After claiming there was a “witch hunt” against J.K. Rowling and Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter criticised cancel culture and defended them.
Throughout her career, the 56-year-old actress has collaborated closely with both Johnny Depp and novelist J.K. Rowling. She co-starred with Depp in a number of films, including Sweeney Todd and Corpse Bride, and is best known for her role as Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter series.
In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, the Harry Potter actress appeared to declare war on cancel culture. According to Carter, “millions of people” would be cancelled due to their personal lives if the microscope were held up close enough.
“Do you ban a genius for their sexual practices?” she questioned. “There would be millions of people who if you looked closely enough at their personal life you would disqualify them. 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.”
The Sweeney Todd actress immediately defended her friend and co-star Johnny Depp, who she described as
“certainly went through it” in relation to his public defamation trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Carter said the allegations against Depp didn’t add up and that: “There’s something quite old-fashioned about Johnny, with these manners.”
The actress then focused on J.K. Rowling, the writer of the Harry Potter series. The author has been harassed online by some followers who have burned her books and accused her of making transphobic comments on social media.
These actions, according to Carter, were “horrendous.”
“It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmentalism of people. She’s allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse,” she added.
“You don’t all have to agree on everything — that would be insane and boring,” the actress continued. “She’s not meaning it aggressively, she’s just saying something out of her own experience.
“Everybody carries their own history of trauma and forms their opinions from that trauma and you have to respect where people come from and their pain.”
The other Harry Potter actors who spoke out against the author were not criticised by Carter.
Carter has also collaborated with a number of well-known figures associated with the #MeToo movement, such as Harvey Weinstein and Woody Allen, according to the Daily Mail. Since then, she has stated that there is “no way back” for some celebrities, using Kevin Spacey as an example.
