J.K. Rowling has finally addressed the controversial casting of Johnny Depp in the Fantastic Beasts movies. But it’s not good.
J.K. Rowling released a statement today, saying that she had been initially concerned after allegations of domestic violence emerged against the Grindelwald actor, reported by his then-wife Amber Heard. She and David Yates, the Fantastic Beasts director, discussed recasting him but decided not to.
Her statement goes on to say that a combination of non-disclosure agreements and a respect for both Depp and Heard’s privacy has prevented her from speaking out before now.
And whilst Rowling sounds marginally more sympathetic towards Heard than Yates, who last week accused her of “ a pop” at Depp with the allegations, Rowling’s statement doesn’t exactly seem to disagree with that view.
She says: “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.”
The words “genuinely happy” particularly stick out like a sore thumb here, and it certainly feels like Rowling is taking a distinct side, no matter how diplomatic she’s trying to sound. “Based on our understanding of the circumstances” is definitely one way to insinuate someone isn’t telling the whole truth.
Both Yates and Rowling seem to imply that, because they’ve spoken to Depp about it, the matter is closed. Yates said outright that Depp was a good guy on set, implying that he couldn’t possibly abuse someone, because he’d never done it to him, which is grossly misunderstanding how abuse actually works.
What makes Rowling’s statement particularly bad, however, is the implication that the matter is a private one between Depp and Heard. British domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid has a section on its website debunking myths around domestic violence, and Myth #6 is that “Domestic abuse is a private family matter, and not a social issue.”
It isn’t a private matter. Domestic abuse is a crime, and yet no other crime would be treated the way it is. In Hollywood alone, we’ve seen people lose their careers over crimes like shoplifting, and that particular incident was certainly not considered a private matter.
Treating it as a private matter allows abuse to go on behind closed doors and isolates the people who are suffering through it, unable to tell anyone. And when they do tell people, they aren’t listened to.
To have this statement come out a day after TIME Magazine celebrated the women who broke their silence about sexual harassment is just disheartening, to say the least.
Of course, this isn’t to say that Rowling deserves a torrent of online abuse about this either. A good portion of the Harry Potter novels are about showing us that our heroes are human, just as flawed and vulnerable as the rest of us. But whilst it is important to acknowledge that Rowling is human, it’s also fair for us to expect more of people in power. And no one can deny that Rowling has power.
Domestic violence isn’t a private issue, and these statements, from both Yates and Rowling, sound too much like they’re making excuses. Better actors than Depp have been replaced for less.
So maybe don’t try and explain it away with a “But he’s nice to me”, because it doesn’t wash with us.
