Johnny Depp has been awarded with a medal of honour by Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic. Watch here:
The actor received the honour at a ceremony in the capital Belgrade yesterday (Tuesday 15 February) for 'outstanding merits in public and cultural activities, especially in the field of film art and the promotion of the Republic of Serbia in the world', according to Balkan Insight.
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The actor has been involved in a couple of projects connected to the country in recent years, shooting scenes in Belgrade for Minimata and playing a leading role in animated series Puffins, which was produced in Serbia.
The 58-year-old appeared to be humbled upon receiving the award from former ultranationalist Vucic - who has been accused of an autocratic style of rule and suppressing media freedom.
He said: "I truly, sincerely thank you, President Vucic, and this medal of merit, if I am given the honour to walk away with this, I thank you for being kind enough to bestow it upon me.
"I'm right now on the verge of a new life and I like it, I like a re-beginning. And I would love for that beginning to start here."
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The award comes after Depp lost a high-profile court case against The Sun in 2020, which centred around whether an article describing him as a 'wife beater' was libellous.
Last year, at San Sebastián Film Festival in Spain - where he picked up the lifetime achievement award - he took the opportunity to lament cancel culture.
He said: "It can be seen as an event in history that lasted for however long it lasted, this cancel culture, this instant rush to judgement based on what essentially amounts to polluted air
"I can promise you that no one is safe. Not one of you. No one out that door. No one is safe.
"It takes one sentence and there's no more ground, the carpet has been pulled. It's not just me that this has happened to, it's happened to a lot of people.
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"This type of thing has happened to women, men. Sadly at a certain point they begin to think that it's normal. Or that it's them. When it's not."
Feminist groups and film industry associations criticised the festival's decision to honour Depp, with the Association of Women Filmmakers of Audiovisual Media of Spain (CIMA) declaring it 'an error from an ethical point of view'.
In a statement released in August, CIMA said: "Unfortunately, Johnny Depp is immersed in several legal proceedings that have their origin in the accusations of mistreatment of his ex-wife Amber Heard.
"For a film festival as important as San Sebastián to side with him when justice has not yet done so, is at least inopportune and unjustifiable."
Topics: World News, Celebrity, Johnny Depp, TV and Film
Jake Massey