Johnny Depp: ‘When Was the Last Time an Actor Assassinated a President?’

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International movie superstar Johnny Depp may be in hot water over comments he made about President Donald Trump.

When Depp, star of such films as Black Mass and The Rum Diary, introduced a film on Thursday at “Cinemageddon,” a film stage at England’s famous Glastonbury Festival, he turned his attention across the Atlantic to the current occupant of the White House.

According to the Daily Telegraph, he told the crowd, “I think [Donald] Trump needs help. There are a lot of dark places he could go.”

He then added, “I’m not insinuating anything – by the way, this will be in the press and it will be horrible – but when was the last time an actor assassinated a president?”

Depp then added, “I want to clarify, I am not an actor. I lie for a living. However, it has been a while, and maybe it is time.”

It is unclear if the quip, which was reportedly met with wide applause, was a reference to actor John Wilkes Booth’s 1865 assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. It is clear, however, that the comment was not the first insinuation of violence against the president in his young tenure in the Oval Office.

Pop pioneer Madonna, for example, celebrated the so-called “Women’s March” following Trump’s inauguration by telling crowds she “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.”

Comedian Kathy Griffin found herself in serious career trouble, losing tour dates and endorsement deals after she staged a bloody mock decapitation of the President last month.

Neither is this Depp’s first brush with controversy in recent months. According to New Musical Express, his very appearance at the Glastonbury Festival came under heavy criticism because recent domestic violence allegations by now ex-wife Amber Heard. Depp vigorously denies the accusations, but Glastonbury Festival organizer Emily Eavis told the Guardian she still took flak for booking him.

“If you start booking people on their ethical policy and morals, there’s a lot of people you wouldn’t book, to be honest. Part of our policy is that everyone has the freedom to book who is right for their area,” she said.

No such concerns were raised over Depp’s comments last year that, “If Donald Trump is elected president of the United States of America, in a kind of historical way it’s exciting because we will see the actual last president of the United States.”

“It just wouldn’t work after that,” the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas star said in a May 2016 red carpet appearance.

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