Cannes Film Festival chief on Johnny Depp controversy: ‘If he was banned, we wouldn’t be talking about it’

Cannes Film Festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux has responded to the controversy surrounding the competition. He mentioned he noticed Johnny Depp and his movie solely as an actor, and a movie, including that if the movie was banned, there would have been no dialogue round Johnny on the competition. Cannes Film Festival opens on May 16 and can go on until May 27. (Also learn: Controversies galore at Cannes Film Festival 2023, however these are nothing new)

The competition opens with the premiere of Johnny Depp’s movie, Jeanne du Barry directed by Maïwenn. According to an AP report, the competition chief was requested concerning the number of Jeanne du Barry because the competition’s opening movie, and he mentioned, ” I don’t know concerning the picture of Johnny Depp within the US. To let you know the reality, in my life, I solely have one rule, it’s the liberty of pondering, the liberty of speech, and the liberty to behave inside a authorized framework. If Johnny Depp had been banned from performing in a movie, or the movie was banned we wouldn’t be right here speaking about it.”

He added, “So we noticed Maiwenn’s movie and it may have been in competitors. She would have been the eighth feminine director. This [controversy] got here up as soon as the movie was introduced at Cannes as a result of all people knew Johnny had made a movie in France…I don’t know why she selected him but it surely’s a query you need to ask Maiwenn.”

The movie marks the primary outing of Johnny Depp since his high-profile trial along with his ex-wife Amber Heard. Both events accused one another of bodily and verbal abuse and Johnny was awarded $10 million in damages whereas Amber received $2 million.

French actor Adele Haenel not too long ago wrote an open letter to announce that she give up performing as a protest towards the response of the French movie business to MeToo allegations. She featured within the 2019 Cannes entry Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Talking about Adele Haenel, Thierry mentioned that folks “use Cannes to talk about certain issues and it’s normal because we give them a platform. But if you thought that it’s a festival for rapists, you wouldn’t be here listening to me, you would not be complaining that you can’t get tickets to get into screenings.”