Helena Bonham Carter is famous for speaking her mind and did so in a new interview with The Sunday Times. The former star of The Crown, who also starred in movies including Sweeney Todd with frequent collaborator Johnny Depp, vented to the publication about cancel culture.
“You can’t ban people,” the English actress stated. “I hate cancel culture. It has become quite hysterical and there’s a kind of witch-hunt and a lack of understanding.”
She mentioned Depp has “been through it,” adding that the godfather to her three children has been “completely vindicated” by his defamation victory against Amber Heard, who a jury decided falsely accused him of physical and sexual abuse in a Washington Post op-ed.
A U.K. court decreed Heard’s accusations had merit in a previous case. That said, Bonham Carter noted of the Aquaman actress, “My view is that she got on that [#MeToo] pendulum. That’s the problem with these things — that people will jump on the bandwagon because it’s the trend and to be the poster girl for it.”
The cancel culture situation also involved J.K. Rowling; Bonham Carter played Bellatrix Lestrange in the filmed adaptations of the author’s Harry Potter books. While the actress’ Potter co-stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson joined the online fray against Rowling over comments that some saw as “transphobic,” Bonham Carter says the accusations against Rowling were “horrendous, a load of bollocks.”
Carter says of Rowling, “I think she has been hounded. It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmentalism of people. She’s allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse…”
She expressed of her younger co-stars’ comments, “I feel they should let her have her opinions, but I think they’re very aware of protecting their own fan base and their generation…”
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