Lily-Rose Depp Addressed Johnny Depp Cannes Controversy
For a variety of reasons, the Depps have wound up being one of the biggest talking points of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The annual festivities kicked off on May 16 with the world premiere of Jeanne du Barry, which stars Johnny Depp. The film marks his first lead role in three years following his highly publicized legal battles with his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
In light of the abuse allegations that surfaced during their defamation court case last year — which Depp won in June — the decision to screen the biographical drama sparked intense backlash as the festival got underway last week.
After the premiere, videos of Depp looking visibly emotional and holding back tears as the crowd cheered for him circulated online, fueling further backlash over his warm welcome back to the forefront of the industry.
And in spite of the criticism, one person who was certainly pleased by the fanfare was the actor’s daughter, Lily-Rose Depp.
For context, the 23-year-old rarely comments publicly about her father. She notably made the decision to stay silent on his contentious legal battles with Heard last year, telling Elle magazine after the case wrapped up in November that she’s “not here to answer for anybody.”
However, Lily-Rose — who is at Cannes promoting HBO’s The Idol — made a rare comment about her dad’s comeback, telling ET Canada earlier this week that she couldn’t be more thrilled.
“I’m super happy for him. I’m super excited,” she gushed, before adding: “It’s so awesome that we get to do projects that we’re super proud of.”
If you’ve been keeping up with Cannes, you’ll know that Lily-Rose is currently navigating a controversy of her own off the back of The Idol’s premiere at the festival on Monday.
For some background, The Idol tells the story of a troubled popstar named Jocelyn (played by Lily-Rose), who enters into a complicated relationship with a self-help guru and cult-leader named Tedros (played by Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd).
The show — which is written and directed by Euphoria creator, Sam Levinson — has been shrouded in controversy for a while now, particularly after a Rolling Stone exposé published interviews with cast and crew members who compared the show to “sexual torture porn.”
Needless to say, the screening of the first two episodes at Cannes this week did not help to mitigate the backlash, with early reviews doubling down on the show’s graphic content and on-screen nudity.
Despite this, Lily-Rose — whose character apparently appears naked at various points throughout the first two episodes — was quick to speak out against the backlash, saying during a press conference that Jocelyn is “a born and bred performer.”
“I think that extends to every aspect of her life, not just her professional life. I think that the way that she dresses, for example, is her trying to tell you something all the time or say something to the people that she’s around or express herself in some kind of way,” she said.
She added: “I also think that the occasional bareness of the character physically mirrors the bareness that we get to see emotionally in her.”
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