World News – US – Johnny Depp has been removed from Fantastic Beasts

Johnny Depp will no longer be part of Warner Bros. Future of the Fantastic Beasts franchise

In a letter posted to Instagram, Depp confirmed that following a recent UK libel decision – which the actor lost after suing tabloid The Sun over an article describing him as a ‘woman drummer Claiming he abused his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard – Warner Bros. asked her to resign from the upcoming entry in her Harry Potter spin-off, despite Depp’s decision to appeal the decision

« Plaintiff [Depp] failed his libel action, » London High Court Judge Nicol wrote in his 129-page ruling “The defendants [the Sun and News Group newspapers] have shown that what they are publishing in the sense I wanted to say is essentially true. I have found that the vast majority of the alleged assaults of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp had been proven civil « 

« I have been touched and moved by your many messages of love and concern, especially in the last few days, » Depp’s statement said in part of his departure. « Secondly, I want to inform you that Warner Bros asked me to resign from my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I respected and accepted this request « 

Depp’s role in the films was defended in the face of controversy ahead of his appearance as the titular villain in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald « Based on our understanding of the circumstances, not only are the filmmakers and I comfortable with our original cast, but really happy that Johnny is playing a major character in the movies, « TERF noted JK Rowling previously said in a statement

But it would appear that in this particular case, behind the scenes of the Potterverse, Warner Bros. ultimately didn’t want to ignore events beyond the movies

Fantastic Beasts, the series is still being directed and co-written by JK Rowling, who is once again a renowned TERF The third installment is being filmed

Update 11/6/2020, 12:10 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional previous comments from Rowling and the High Court of London

To say that Warner Bros released a statement on JK Rowling’s recent and ongoing response to…

Fantastic Beasts, Johnny Depp, Gellert Grindelwald, Warner Bros, Amber Heard, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald