Johnny Depp had one concise thought when Warner Bros. asked him to step down from his role as Grindelwald in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise: “F–k you.”
In a conversation with The Telegraph published Saturday, Depp explained how he was being pushed out of the “Harry Potter” prequel spinoff as he lost his very public libel trial against The Sun in the U.K. after the paper described him as a “wife beater.” He was asked to “retire” from the role for “The Secrets of Dumbledore” — which he did but was not happy about it.
“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,” Depp said. “It literally stopped in a millisecond, 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.”
He finished: ““F–k 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 was replaced in 2022’s “The Secrets of Dumbledore” by Mads Mikkelsen. The actor had only shot a single scene for the third film in the “Fantastic Beasts” series before he was asked to leave.
The decision to fire Depp came after he lost his first U.K. libel trial against Heard back in November 2020. Depp later countersued his ex and cited the loss of the “Harry Potter” role as part of the damages from the libel trial.
Depp initially announced Warner Bros. asking him to “retire” from the Gellert Grindelwald role on Instagram in 2020.
“In light of recent events, I would like to make the following short statement,” Depp wrote. “Firstly, I’d like to thank everybody who has gifted me with their support and loyalty. I have been humbled and moved by your many messages of love and concern, particularly over the last few days.”
He continued: “I wish to let you know that I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in ‘Fantastic Beasts’ and I have respected and agreed to that request.”
