Helena Bonham Carter defends JK Rowling, Johnny Depp

The actress says the Harry Potter author has been unfairly 'hounded' for her comments on trans women, and should be allowed to voice her opinion.

The actress says the Harry Potter author has been unfairly 'hounded' for her comments on trans women, and should be entitled to her own opinion.

Actress Helena Bonham Carter has come to the defence of JK Rowling, claiming the Harry Potter author had been "hounded" and was a victim of cancel culture.

Bonham Carter, who played the character of Bellatrix Lestrange in the film adaptations of the Harry Potter books, said Rowling has been plagued with accusations of transphobia, following an essay she published on gender identity in 2020.

“It’s horrendous, a load of bollocks,” Bonham Carter told the Sunday Times. “I think she has been hounded.”

She continued: “It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmentalism of people. She’s allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse. Everybody carries their own history of trauma and forms their opinions from that trauma and you have to respect where people come from and their pain.

“You don’t all have to agree on everything – that would be insane and boring. She’s not meaning it aggressively, she’s just saying something out of her own experience.”

Actors Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, author J.K. Rowling, and actors Rupert Grint and Timothy Spall attend the World Premiere of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 at Odeon Leicester Square on November 11, 2010. Photo by Dave M. Benett/Getty Images.

When asked about the film’s three younger stars — Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint — publicly condemning Rowling’s statements, Bonham Carter said:  “Personally I feel they should let her have her opinions, but I think they’re very aware of protecting their own fanbase and their generation.”

She also expressed her distaste for cancel culture. “You can’t ban people. I hate cancel culture,” she said.

“It has become quite hysterical and there’s a kind of witch-hunt and a lack of understanding.”

“Do you ban a genius for their sexual practices? There would be millions of people who if you looked closely enough at their personal life you would disqualify them,” she concluded.

Bonham Carter also leapt to the defence of Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp, saying he had been “completely vindicated” following the defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard in June.

Depp and Bonham Carter starred alongside eachother in films like Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows, and Charlie in the Chocolate Factory — all directed by Bonham Carter’s former husband Tim Burton. Depp is also the godfather to their two children. 

Johnny Depp, Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter. Photo by Getty.

Carter, who has worked with a suite of disgraced Hollywood heavy hitters like producer Harvey Weinstein and directors Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, was asked whether the film industry is more forgiving towards the accused, and if there’s a way of rehabilitating their careers, she mused: “I don’t think there is for someone like Kevin Spacey.”

As for Depp? “Johnny certainly went through it,” she said, adding, “I think he’s fine now. Totally fine.” 

Asked whether the Virgina jury’s decision to award Depp $15m in the libel suit was indicative of the #MeToo pendulum swinging back, Bonham Carter said. “My view is that she got on that 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.” 

Heard was found to have defamed Depp by describing herself as a victim of domestic violence in an opinion piece she wrote for The Sun. While she never mentioned him by name, Depp claimed the piece was about him.

During the trial, Depp denied striking Heard and accused her of lying about his alcohol and drug use.