Daniel Radcliffe has spoken out about Johnny Depp's casting in Fantastic Beasts

He didn't hold back

Ever since Amber Heard took out a restraining order against Johnny Depp back in May 2016, fans having been calling for the actor to be removed from J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them franchise.

Amber said her ex-husband was 'verbally and physically abusive' during their relationship, before dropping the case the following August when the couple released a joint statement about their split.

Although the joint statement didn't comment on the allegations of physical abuse, it did state that their relationship was 'intensely passionate and at times volatile'.

Throughout the controversy, both Warner Brothers and author J.K. Rowling stood by the decision to cast Johnny Depp in the role of Gellert Grindelwald.

J.K. Rowling even released a statement on the matter recently, saying: 'Harry Potter fans had legitimate questions and concerns about our choice to continue with Johnny Depp in the role.'

'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.'

J.K. Rowling's statement also added that she and the filmmakers were 'not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies.'

The statement didn't go down too well with fans, and now Daniel Radcliffe has spoken out on the controversy surrounding Johnny Depp's involvement in the film.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Daniel said: 'It's a very hard thing for me [to talk about]' because the Harry Potter films 'gave me a great start in life and an amazing job.'

'I can see why people are frustrated with the response that they were given from that,' he continued. 'I'm not saying anything that anybody hasn't already said - and this is a weird analogy to draw - in the NFL, there are lots of players arrested for smoking weed and there is other people's behaviour 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 [Harry Potter] film, essentially, so obviously what Johnny has been accused of is much greater than that.'

Fans have been quick to agree with Daniel's query, and praised the actor for speaking his mind on the matter.