Earlier this week, the 76th Cannes Film Festival opened with Johnny Depp’s new film, Jeanne du Barry, which received a seven-minute standing ovation.
The hashtag #CannesYouNot has since taken off on Twitter, referencing the UK judgement concluding that Depp had assaulted his ex-wife, Amber Heard. In June 2022, a US jury found that Heard had defamed Depp. The latter trial drew criticism for being live-streamed, which enabled those watching it at home to share out-of-context clips – often alongside misogynistic commentary.
In response to Depp's appearance at Cannes, one person tweeted, “Cannes rewards violence against women,” while another said, “If you wonder why survivors don’t report this is exhibit A. #CannesYouNot.”
It's far from the first time an awards ceremony has triggered serious backlash about the choice of honourees. French actor Adèle Haenel exited the film industry in the aftermath of the 2020 Cesar Awards ceremony. That year, Roman Polanski (who pled guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, evading justice in the US by moving to Paris), won Best Director and Haenel walked out of the ceremony shouting “Bravo paedophilia!” in protest. Several months prior, she had accused director Christophe Ruggia of sexually harassing her (Ruggia has refuted the allegations), which was the catalyst of France’s #MeToo movement.
She revealed in an open letter published in Telerama magazine that she will not return to the film industry and that this decision was a political act: “They’re ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs, those who are so rich that they believe they belong to a superior species, those who make a show of this superiority by… objectifying women and subordinates.”
The letter added that “I have no other weapon than my body and my integrity. Cancel culture in the primary sense: you have the money, the strength and the money, you bask in it, but you won’t have me as your spectator. I cancel you from my world. I depart, I go on strike, I join my comrades, whose quest for meaning and dignity rules over that of money and power.”
- EntertainmentIs Baby Reindeer's ‘Cotton Mouth’ show real?
The Cannes Director, Thierry Fremaux, responded to this outrage by telling press on Monday, 15th May, “I don’t know about the image of Johnny Depp in the U.S. To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule: It’s the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and act within a legal framework. If Johnny Depp had been banned from acting in a film, or the film was banned we wouldn’t be here talking about it…this [controversy] came up once the film was announced at Cannes.”
He also said “I’m the last person to be able to discuss all this. If there’s one person in this world who didn’t find the least interest in this very publicised trial [against Heard], it’s me. I don’t know what it’s about. I care about Johnny Depp as an actor.”
Thierry Fremaux went on to dismiss Adèle Haenel, calling her letter “radical” and “false,” saying “She didn’t think that when she came to Cannes unless she suffered from a crazy dissonance.” He also told the room full of journalists, “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.”
- EntertainmentIs Baby Reindeer's ‘Cotton Mouth’ show real?
Public opinion over Depp v Heard was split, but a lot of people have come to Depp’s defence and have misinterpreted the civil libel case as equating to him being cleared of abusing Amber Heard.
Throughout the trial, evidence was presented by Amber's team about the alleged abuse. Like the text messages from June 2013 presented in court, in which Johnny Depp and Paul Bettany joked about how to kill Heard, with Depp writing: “Let's burn Amber!!!” Paul wrote back: “I'm not sure we should burn Amber. She is delightful company and pleasing on the eye. We could of course, do the English course of action and perform a drowning test. Thoughts? You have a swimming pool.”
Depp harrowingly replied, “Let's drown her before we burn her!!! I will f*** her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she is dead.” Amber accused Johnny of domestic and sexual abuse, multiple times throughout the trial, which he strongly denied.
Despite the UK 2018 case, public opinion and Hollywood largely washed over the fact that allegations of abuse had been made against Depp, painting him as the sole victim in the Depp v Heard case and giving him an almost-instant redemption arc. This isn’t surprising, given how society treats victims of domestic abuse and relentlessly victim blames women. Still, it's disappointing.
Aside from the opening at Cannes, Depp has just signed a $20 million contract with Dior, the largest men’s fragrance deal of all time (per Variety). He is also directing, for the first time in 25 years, a film that stars Al Pacino and will be shown to buyers at Cannes. So, not only has his career not been hurt by these allegations, it seems it’s been helped.
From Louis CK to Woody Allen, this isn't an isolated situation. Post the #MeToo movement, many of the men who were called out as alleged abusers have been given second, third, and fourth chances. Whereas women, like Heard, are blacklisted. People are so quick to forgive misogyny, excuse abuse, and witch-hunt women: patriarchy is ingrained, and Hollywood is one of its many mouthpieces.
Johnny Depp getting a standing ovation at Cannes, whilst Amber Heard continues to be ridiculed and abused on social media, paints a dark picture. No case has proven Johnny Depp to be the victim of domestic abuse, which isn't to say he isn't, but a UK court has found Amber to be – and yet, the famous, rich, powerful white man continues to be put on a pedestal.
The consequences of the so-called cancel culture remain mythical, as do any lasting changes from the #MeToo movement.
Inevitably, the movement struggled to deliver.
