Johnny Depp Opens Up About His Painful Exit From 'Fantastic Beasts': 'I Felt Shunned and Canceled'

Johnny Depp feels the sting of being let go from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, a fallout linked to his tumultuous legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard. The actor described this particular dismissal as deeply hurtful, saying he was "shunned, dumped, booted, deep-sixed and canceled" following the defamation lawsuit he brought against Heard.

In an interview with a news outlet, Depp revealed his disbelief when he learned of the decision.

"It literally stopped in a millisecond," he shared. "Like, while I was doing the movie. They said, 'We'd like you to resign.' But what was really in my head was they wanted me to retire."

His reaction to what he perceived as a coded message was blunt: "'F--- you. There's far too many of me to kill. If you think you can hurt me more than I've already been hurt, you're gravely mistaken."

Depp, who first captured audiences in the late 1980s and early '90s with iconic roles in projects such as 21 Jump Street, What's Eating Gilbert Grape? and Edward Scissorhands, found himself at the center of controversy in the late 2010s due to his relationship with Heard.

After marrying in 2015, Heard filed for divorce a year later, alleging verbal and physical abuse. Depp denied the accusations, and though they finalized the divorce in 2017, he later sued News Group Newspapers after The Sun labeled him a "wife beater." A British court rejected Depp's claim, ruling that Heard's account of their relationship was "substantially true."

Undeterred, Depp pursued a defamation lawsuit against Heard in 2019 after she described herself as a victim of sexual violence in a Washington Post op-ed. While Depp won that trial, he claimed the legal battles took a toll on his career.

He starred in the first two films of the Harry Potter spinoff series but was ultimately asked to resign from his role as villain Gellert Grindelwald. Mads Mikkelsen took over the role in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

The series has faced its own controversies, with original creator J.K. Rowling criticized for her anti-trans views and costar Ezra Miller accused of multiple offenses.

Depp previously expressed regret for the upheaval caused by his legal battles, noting in a past interview with Entertainment Weekly, "I felt bad for J.K. having to field all these various feelings from people out there... but ultimately, there is real controversy. The fact remains I was falsely accused."

Despite the turmoil, Depp maintained a sense of confidence in his actions, telling The Telegraph, "Listen, they've said all kinds of things out there in the world about me, and it doesn't bother me. I'm not running for office."