Here’s What Daniel Radcliffe Thinks About Johnny Depp’s ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Casting Controversy

After filmmakers behind the “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them” sequel chose to continue working with Johnny Depp despite the abuse allegations made against him by his then-wife Amber Heard, there was a public outcry from fans. One voice that had remained silent, though, was the star of the original “Harry Potter” films, Daniel Radcliffe, until now.

“It’s a very hard thing for me,” Radcliffe told EW of the controversy. While the actor said that he wants to be supportive of the film’s producers who “gave me a great start in life and an amazing job,” that didn’t stop him from sharing his thoughts on the matter.

Radcliffe continued, “I can see why people are frustrated with the response that they were given from that … I’m not saying anything that anybody hasn’t already said — and this is a weird analogy to draw — [but] in the NFL, there are lots of players arrested for smoking weed and there is other people’s behavior that goes way beyond that and it’s tolerated because they’re very famous players. I suppose the thing I was struck by was, we did have a guy who was reprimanded for weed on the [original ‘Potter’] film, essentially, so obviously what Johnny has been accused of is much greater than that.”

One of the responses that fans had been given was from J.K. Rowling herself, who supported Depp’s continued role in the films, which left many fans of both the author and the franchise disappointed.

“‘Harry Potter’ fans had legitimate questions and concerns about our choice to continue with Johnny Depp in the role,” Rowling wrote in a blog post in December. “As David Yates, long-time Potter director, has already said, we naturally considered the possibility of recasting. I understand why some have been confused and angry about why that didn’t happen.”

The author went on to explain that that recasting didn’t happen because after much discussion of the situation and “based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies.”

On top of Rowling’s note, there was also a statement from Warner Bros. about their decision to keep Depp on the franchise.

“Based on the circumstances and the information available to us, we, along with the filmmakers, continue to support the decision to proceed with Johnny Depp in the role of Grindelwald in this and future films,” Warner Bros. stated.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is currently set to be released on Nov. 16.