In the name of the stories that you weave, the fans that you claim to love, the people throughout the world that have experienced intimate partner violence -- recast the character of Grindlewald and remove Johnny Depp from all future Fantastic Beasts films.

We are fans of Harry Potter and the Fantastic Beasts series who stand firmly against domestic violence and abuse. We've seen these themes in the stories, including Severus Snape's father terrorizing his wife and child, the Gaunt family abusing Merope Gaunt, and Mary Lou Barebone perpetrating physical, verbal, and emotional violence against her adopted children. In these stories, the abusive characters are rightly cast as villains - not heroes.

Domestic violence is nonfiction. In the US (where Fantastic Beasts is set), nearly 3 in 10 women and 1 in 10 men have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner and reported at least one impact related to experiencing these or other forms of violent behavior in the relationship (e.g., being fearful, concerned for safety, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, need for health care, injury, contacting a crisis hotline, need for housing services, need for victim’s advocate services, need for legal services, missed at least one day of work or school). Intimate partner violence against transgender people is likely higher - up to 5 in 10 trans people. In addition, nearly 700,000 children are abused in the U.S annually.

Despite the horrendous reality of this epidemic of violence, WB has cast Johnny Depp in the role of Grindelwald. Here is a summation of the allegations against Johnny Depp:

• Amber Heard, Depp's ex-wife, filed a domestic assault charge against Depp in May 2016, was granted a temporary restraining order against Depp at the time and filed for divorce.
• “During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me… Johnny ripped the cell phone from my hand and began screaming profanities and insults at iO [the friend],” Heard wrote in a court statement obtained by People. “I heard iO yell at me to get out of the house. Johnny then grabbed the cellphone, wound up his arm like a baseball pitcher and threw the cellphone at me striking my cheek and eye with great force.”
• Investigators found no proof of a crime at the time.
• As of August 2016, Heard had settled both her divorce and abuse case against Depp. Heard withdrew her request for a permanent domestic violence restraining order and accepted a $7 million divorce settlement.
• In June 2017, though, court documents obtained by People detailed that one of Depp’s former business managers, Joel Mandel, “was informed well after the fact through communications with various house staff and security that Depp had been extremely volatile and had sometimes ‘gotten physical’ with Heard.”
• The documents, part of a larger lawsuit between Depp and Mandel’s The Management Group, detailed that Depp — who’d originally denied allegations of abuse — had tried to cover up at least one occasion of abuse. The court documents also detailed an incident “in or around 2014” in which “Depp had violently kicked Heard,” offering up testimony from further witnesses.

In sum: court documents prove that, in addition to Amber Heard's claims, one of Depp's former business manager knew of the domestic violence that was occurring within the home.

We, as fans, err on the side of believing people who bravely confront their abuser and we wholeheartedly reject the casting of actors who have been accused of abuse. As J.K. Rowling knows, this is not in this spirit of the Harry Potter series we know and love.

In the name of the stories that you weave, the fans that you claim to love, the people throughout the world that have experienced intimate partner violence -- recast the character of Grindlewald and remove Johnny Depp from all future Fantastic Beasts films.

Sources:

1. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf
2. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Intimate-Partner-Violence-and-Sexual-Abuse-among-LGBT-People.pdf
3. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/child-maltreatment-2015
4. https://www.inverse.com/article/38514-fantastic-beasts-sequel-johnny-depp-grindelwald-abuse-allegations