Dakota Johnson Hated Being Involved in Depp-Heard Controversy: ‘Please, Take Me Out’
Dakota Johnson was dragged into the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial firestorm on social media after co-starring with Depp in 2015’s “Black Mass.”
A video of Johnson reacting to Depp’s explanation of his bandaged fingers while at a Venice Film Festival press conference went viral amid the Depp v. Heard defamation trial, during which both former spouses claimed domestic abuse. Part of Depp’s testimony included that Heard severed the tip of his finger with a vodka bottle during an argument in 2015, seemingly before the “Black Mass” premiere. The jury ultimately ruled that Heard defamed ex-husband Depp in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed implying that she endured physical, psychological, verbal, and sexual domestic abuse at the hands of Depp, whom she did not actually name.
A YouTube reaction video of Johnson at the Venice Film Festival titled “The EXACT moment Dakota Johnson KNEW Amber Heard was VIOLENT towards Johnny Depp” accumulated over 3 million views amid the live-streamed case.
“I was like, ‘For the love of God, why? Why am I involved in this?'” Johnson explained to Vanity Fair. “I don’t remember that at all, but please, take me out of this. Don’t let this go further. Can you imagine, oh, my God, if I was called to the witness stand? I can’t believe that people are watching [the trial] like it’s a show. It’s like it’s a courtroom drama and my heart breaks. It’s so, so, so crazy. Humans are so fucking weird. The internet is a wild, wild place.”
The “Fifty Shades of Grey” star then addressed the issue with “cancel culture” in general, without further commenting on the then-ongoing trial.
“What I struggle with in terms of cancel culture is the term cancel culture — the whole concept behind canceling a human being, like they’re an appointment,” Johnson said. “No person will not make mistakes in their life.”
She continued, “The point of being alive is figuring it out. Hurting other people, harming other people is not okay. There are consequences for those actions. But the concept of the Twitterverse deciding if someone just all of a sudden doesn’t exist anymore is horrifying, heartbreaking and wrong.”
But Johnson sees hope for the future: “I do think that it will pass,” the “Persuasion” actress added. “I believe that people want to live in a better world, ultimately. Also, Twitter makes up like, what, 12% of the world? I mean, some of these people can’t even spell.”
