Fantastic Beasts: Johnny Depp asked to exit franchise by Warner Bros.

November 6th 2020, 11:56am

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

In what could be the first major blow to Johnny Depp's career following losing his libel case against the tabloid "The Sun" that labeled him a "wife-beater", the actor has been asked to resign from his role as Grindelwald in the FANTASTIC BEASTS franchise.

Johnny Depp took to his Instagram to reveal the news by saying "I wish to let you know that I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I have respected and agreed to that request." You can check out his full post below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Johnny Depp (@johnnydepp) on Nov 6, 2020 at 8:15am PST

The actor goes on to thank everyone that has stood by him during this very trying time and he makes it clear that he plans to prove that the allegations against him are false. The allegations are in response to "The Sun" labeling him a "wife-beater" due to claims made by his ex-wife Amber Heard. These allegations emerged four years ago and Depp went after the tabloid for libel because he said the statements were false. The problem for Depp is that the case allowed pictures of Heards' bruised face to be made public and it put the spotlight on a relationship that was clearly toxic but in the end, it was risky for Depp to pursue this case because there was a lot of evidence that did display abusive behavior on his part. At the end of the day, the judge, Mr. Justice Nicol, found the majority of Heard's allegations that Depp abused her proved to the civil standard, and that, therefore, "The Sun" was entitled to describe him as a "wife-beater."

Many in the industry have questioned if this would hurt Depp's career, which has honestly been on the slide the last few years, and this news about FANTASTIC BEASTS is a sign that it's going to have repercussions. Can he rebound and redeem himself? It's certainly possible because Hollywood loves a redemption story (look no further than Mel Gibson and HACKSAW RIDGE) but it's going to take him and he's really going to need to take a step back to truly reevaluate his life choices.

Do YOU think Johnny Depp will suffer more fallout?