Johnny Depp has never been 'cancelled' His return to the cinema in the movie Ebenezer is yet another proof

Johnny Depp will be Ebenezer Scrooge in the new Ebenezer, the prequel film to A Christmas Carol. I don't know who needed to know what Scrooge was doing before he became Scrooge but, obviously, someone in Hollywood did. Apparently, in fact, in 2026 sequels, remakes and reboots are not enough for us, but we must also dig into the past of characters who already had a fairly clear past.

Johnny Depp continues to work despite everything

The casting, however, is more interesting than the film itself. Depp will play one of the first 'villains' we learned to become familiar with as children and his own reputation is that of a difficult, shy and aggressive man. After going through one of the most discussed controversies in recent years, there has been talk of cancel culture and how complaints of violence 'ruin the lives and career' of influential men. But why do we continue to think that accusations destroy men's reputations forever, when we continue to see them work and succeed?

False accusations and cancel culture in Hollywood

One of the most discussed and debated issues in recent years is precisely that of false accusations. Of how they can destroy a man's life; that a single complaint can erase a career built over decades; that an accusation, even when it does not lead to a conviction, can leave a mark impossible to remove. A sort of scarlet letter, but on the contrary. Let's overlook the fact that violence weighs much more on the victim's life than on that of the accused. Let's pretend that's not the main point and focus on the accused. Even without taking into account the injured party, it is a reasoning that does not find any kind of support in reality. Here we talk about artists, actors and directors, and you only have to look at Hollywood to realize that this reputation is much more resistant than we tell ourselves.

Not only Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp, after being removed from major American productions, is now back with a leading role. Louis C.K., after admitting sexual harassment against several collaborators, has rebuilt a career made up of stand-up, tours and specials. Roman Polanski, who in 1977 pleaded guilty to having an illegal sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl and fled the United States before the sentence, continued to direct award-winning films and to be considered one of the most important figures in auteur cinema. Kevin Spacey has progressively returned to work after years of absence from the big sets. We could go ahead with the list and talk about Sean Penn, James Franco, Shia Labeouf, Woody Allen, Dustin Hoffman, Ed Westwick, Jared Leto and many others but, basically, the story is always that.

The lowest common denominator? They are men

Or rather, they are not the same stories. The charges, the trials, the judicial outcomes and the individual responsibilities are not. But, paradoxically, it is these differences that make them so similar. The careers of the men involved have hardly encountered an impassable obstacle with the accusations received. In some cases, they have led to slowdowns, changes or a period of separation from production companies. Then, however, they resumed almost undisturbed. It's pretty clear that we have an altered conception of male reputation. Our patriarchal culture likes to say that it is fragile, that a female testimony is enough to put an end to everything. And yet, in practice, fame seems to work as a kind of shock absorber. The more you are known, the more you have built economic and cultural capital, the more people are interested in remembering what you did well and forgetting what you did wrong. The same power held by man is that it allows complaints to be discredited, associating them with opportunism and convenience.

The focus moves, and the victim is pushed aside

And so the focus is shifted, we don't think about the victim and the damage potentially suffered. We are not talking about abuse of power and prevarication or abuse. It is less painful and less uncomfortable to look at the finger and not at the indicated moon. At a certain point the question changes, it's no longer “what did he do?” but “what is the socio-economic capital that it can still move?”. Pop culture, in a context like this, is more sincere than we would like to admit. Talent, success and money do not necessarily erase accusations but they manage to dampen them, cloud them, make them compatible with a career. We have seen it happen so many times that we have almost stopped noticing it. A controversy can lead a man to disappear for a few years, leave the collective memory to do its job and then return with a new film, a podcast, a special, a tour. Sometimes he even returns, turning his controversy into part of the character: the tormented man, the problematic genius, the one who made a mistake but paid, the one who 'deserves a second chance'. Possibilities that not everyone receives in the same way. Forgiveness is not openly granted to women. And if you don't believe it, simply ask yourself: when was the last time you saw Amber Heard in an art project?