Johnny Depp says J.K. Rowling knows he was 'falsely accused' of domestic abuse because she has 'seen the evidence'

Johnny Depp is finally responding to the controversy over his Fantastic Beasts casting.

Depp stars as the central villain in the new sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which is written by author J.K. Rowling and set years before the Harry Potter series. Some have criticized Depp's presence in the movie, as his ex-wife, Amber Heard, accused him of domestic violence in 2016. Depp denied her accusations. As part of their divorce settlement, the two released a statement saying that during their relationship there was "never any intent of physical or emotional harm," BuzzFeed News reports. However, when Depp again denied her allegations in a recent interview, Heard's attorney accused him of "psychological abuse" and pointed to "multiple witnesses to Mr. Depp's physical abuse."

Now, Depp tells Entertainment Weekly that J.K. Rowling "knows I was falsely accused" because she has "seen the evidence." Rowling in 2017 had offered a slight defense of keeping Depp onboard the project, but she was careful not to get into the specifics of the case, saying she wanted to respect Depp's and Heard's privacy.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Entertainment Weekly notes that Depp's attorney says unspecified evidence will be presented in court during a defamation case against The Sun next month. The actor added that he "felt bad" that Rowling took so much heat over his casting, but "she doesn't take things lightly" and "would not stand up if she didn't know the truth."