Johnny Depp Calls The U.S. A Truly Frightening Place In Which He Would Never Want To Raise His Children
October 7th, 2007
Actor Johnny Depp has vowed never to raise his child in the U.S. – branding the country a truly “frightening” place.
Johnny, 44, currently lives with his wife, actress/model Vanessa Paradis, and two children – Lily-Rose, 8, Jack, 5 – in rural northern France.
And despite the fact he grew up in the U.S, he is vehement about never returning to his home country with his children.
He tells the New York Post, “I’m not particularly optimistic about society. We’re in an age where everything has gone too far. It’s an ugly world.
“I’m truly frightened of America in terms of raising my daughter here. I don’t believe that is an option at all.”
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1. Jenna M. (UK) | October 7th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Well when you look at the way the paps treat celebrities and stalk them, especially when they are with their kids (just look at the videos of Brangelnia picking Maddox up from school), its hardly surprising is it?
If I was a celeb parent I certainly wouldn’t take my kids anywhere near America, or Britain for that matter.
2. Kai | October 7th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Amen
3. atl80 | October 7th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I am an American who actually loves the French and was an exchange student there. However, if Johnny Depp is sooo against American then maybe he needs to quit making all these American movies that bring him so much wealth and revoke his American citizenship. The paps are everywhere! Brad & Angelina can’t go anywhere without being followed and Diana died in France while being chased. Yes, there are a lot of things wrong with the current state of America, but we still have it better than the rest of the world. Instead of giving up and hiding out why not help educate the American population?
4. marla | October 7th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
In terms of paparazzi Europe is just as bad as the US, remember Brad Pitt’s coments on the harassment he recieved in Prague? There is nothing wrong with the U.S. Mr Depp, it’s a country that provides enough possibilities for people who are willing to contribute to society!
5. lala | October 7th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
See, that’s the whole problem: Americans DO NOT have it better than the rest of the world! But just keep telling that yourself if it makes you feel any better though..
6. Mellynn | October 7th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Well, the beautiful thing about “how far” our society has come is that individuals like Mr. Depp can by all means stay the heck out of America then. No one cares, Johnny…no one cares. Celebs need to figure out that just b/c they are celebs it doesn’t mean that their political opinions are any more or less valid than anyone else’s.
Your opinion is duly noted, Johnny. Now go make another crappy “Pirates” movie and expect the very Americans you insulted to give you money hand over fist.
See ya on the other side of the pond….NOT!
7. jdf | October 7th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
i dont think its only the paparazzi he means it could be all the crime and killing and crap that is so previlant to the usa
im not saying that every country is perfect but you dont really hear about other countries as having as “much” problems as the usa
8. amy | October 7th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Thanks Mellynn, Johnny is very welcome here in Europe :)
9. Mellynn | October 7th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Enjoy him, Amy!!! hee hee :-)
10. oriana | October 7th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Johnny needs to Shut his mouth! He grew up in a nice town, Owensboro, Ky, 80 miles from my hometown. It is a very clean and nice place. He gets on my nerves with his fakey accent, he acts like he is high and mighty now, I remember when he was hooked on drugs, trashing hotel rooms, getting kicked out of hotels and he still looks like he needs a bath most of the time!
He would back in the Hills of Ky if it wasn’t for making it big with US dollars, didn’t the paps of Paris hound Princess Di to her death, they played a role in it regardless of anything else, yes indeed, enjoy him Amy!
11. oriana | October 7th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Mellynn, I am enjoying you more and more!
12. phnxgirl | October 7th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
I agree, he can make the comment about America, but then don’t expect us to pad your bank account!
13. Andrea | October 7th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Oh, so he can make movies that corrupt our society and other people’s kids, just keep them from his kid, right? He doesn’t come off as very intelligent to me. So what should we do, Johnny? Should we all go live in rural France where you live?
14. JJ | October 7th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
#7 – Bingo! You hit the nail on the head…I don’t think that JD’s comment had as much to do with the paparazzi hounding celebrities – it had to do more with the current state of affairs in the USA – i.e. gun violence, child predators, obese school children, a life of superficial excessiveness (big screen TV’s, SUV’s in the city, big box shopping malls, eating till you pop)…and so on. Life in Europe is very different…on many levels. He is entitled to his opinion and frankly – I might even agree with him.
15. Debra | October 7th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I don’t care where he lives. Being, and raising a happy human is all that matters. We all have choices.
16. ME | October 7th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
JJ u couldn`t have said it better…I think he was referring to that too!
17. Zbella | October 7th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Hmmm. I don’t take it personally, although I’m a happy American. I believe he was raised very poor and had lots of childhood troubles. No wonder he doesn’t have fond memories of the USA & childhood. But I’m 100% comfortable raising TWO daughters in America. Also, he is not married – they are partners.
18. Cammi | October 7th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
I actually respect his opinion. Along with u JJ i totally think that he was talking about the bad part of the US. Especially with the whole celebrity jail news. Paris comes out of jail while at the same time Nicole Richie steps in jail. He’s a concerned parent. Eventhough as hard as he tries his kid is bound to hit the US anytime when she turns 18. Like Demi Moore was trying to keep her daughters out of California, her daughter ended up partying hard like the rest. Right now he’s putting a good effort in keeping her out of the celebrity chaos. But as i said give it a few years.
19. dori | October 7th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I love Johnny and perhaps he’s right ….with the way the papazzi stalks people. I didn’t know Vanessa was his wife . Did they get married?
20. Lola | October 7th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
And maybe he should relinquish his American citizenship. I love lots of other people and other countries, but I don’t believe the US has a monopoly on the bad and ugly.
21. oriana | October 7th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
No, he did not marry Vanessa and he calls her his wife. I don’t think she is pretty at all but they seem to be a happy close family. Johnny says he likes living in the country side, I think it reminds him of his roots from home. He probably did mean all the violence in the U.S. but I didn’t like the tone he has used towards the U.S. Especially when he hasn’t exactly been a poster boy for good behavior. He seems a little snooty acting to me and has for a long time.
I don’t know, and I am going to upset some people, but the French are snotty to me, just like they were 30 years ago when I was there.
22. Elsa | October 7th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Johnny Depp is a disgrace and he makes me ill. First, he’s not even attractive..he’s gross. Second, be glad your bad acting got you beyond 21 Jump Street. Third, if you hate the US so much, don’t make your $$ here you hypocrite.
Be affraid that your child will see you never actually married your “wife” and witnesses her dad’s hypocracy. Jerk!
23. Momof Boys | October 7th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
I completely agree with him, & if given the opportunity, I wouldn’t raise my children here, either. The US, by and large, is full of self-serving materialists. All most people in the US care about is the almighty dollar, our government is a joke, & something has got to be wrong when someone who plays a GAME for a living can go on strike for more millions while people are still starving in the streets in the next town over.
24. annie | October 8th, 2007 at 12:18 am
I don’t blame him one bit for not wanting to raise his children in Hollywood. Those children would not get a minutes peace with the paparazzi following them.
25. Zbella | October 8th, 2007 at 12:36 am
Annie – neither do I – but he didn’t say Hollywood – he said America…
26. Lurker | October 8th, 2007 at 2:37 am
This is old news..whether it has just been noted again somewhere, Johnny Depp and his gf have been away from the states for awhile (and obviously she’s French, so I guess she’s always been elsewhere..;-) )..he’s expressed his opinions about America before, and it’s hardly gotten any ‘better’ here, has it? Like many other celebs he doesn’t seem to agree with the way things are done here..and I won’t blame him for that. We are all entitled to our opinions..just because he’s famous shouldn’t make his opinion any more or less valuable than yours or mine.
And as far as the attacking him personally, (as I saw some posts above doing–but again, we all have rights to our own opinions) I find him very attractive, I think he’s an incredible actor, and I don’t hold it against him at all for not liking the USA. I agree with many of his sentiments–not that any country is ‘perfect’, but if I could just come and go like he can, I can’t guarantee I wouldn’t look elsewhere myself.
I don’t know much about his gf, but as was posted above, they seem very happy together..so I wish them the best wherever they choose to live, and I will still watch basically any movie he does.
Not that I have liked all of them, but ever since 21 Jump Street he has earned his cred with me. ;-)
27. CeeCee | October 8th, 2007 at 4:19 am
I am a bit surprised at the harsh comments made on this Johnny Depp’s statement: it sounds like some of you feel personally attacked and are fighting back…
He is not talking for him only, but as a father, who is concerned by his children’s education and future, that’s all. And I believe they’ll have the best of both cultures!
We don’t know if he was referring to more than the sole question of the paparazzi, but obviously, this couple is very far from being as much attention-seeking as a Brad/Angelina can be: he just said how he feels and is very consistent.
On the question of France and the paparazzi, the fact is the whole market of celeb photos has internationalized and that orders come from agencies having correspondents in the main countries or send someone to follow the celebs (even hopping on the same flight when they spot them at airport for instance). It’s not a question of nationality anymore.
The BIG difference between the US and France is in the attitude towards private life: although this is slightly changing, the French are basically much more respectful of privacy and children AND THIS HAS BEEN TURNED INTO LAW some time ago now.
Which means that paparazzi’s work in France is more restricted than in the US, and that celebs can go to court and stop the release of the magazines having published privacy-invading photos or ask for damages they are indeed granted (some make a living from this and are proud to laugh that it pays their vacations!)
I am not saying one system is better than the other, just saying…
28. Mellynn | October 8th, 2007 at 7:23 am
#21, Right on!!!
29. Jenna M. (UK) | October 8th, 2007 at 7:44 am
Why does he need to “shut his mouth” Oriana? If you’re entitled to your opinion then so is he. I don’t get what the problem is, if he doesn’t like America then fair enough, thats his choice.
#3, I find it amusing that you think you have it better in the States than in any of the other countries in the world. Really? Have you ever actually been outside the States? I think some people in America (especially the poor, minorities, gays etc) would disagree with you strongly there.
30. DMITZ | October 8th, 2007 at 9:00 am
I think that’s an ignorant comment on Johnny’s part. Okay, we get it. We know where he lives, where he’s raising his family – obviously because he prefers it and his wife has him wrapped around the b@lls.
He shouldn’t have made that comment b/c he’s going to upset his American fan base. I don’t care if it has to do w/the paps or crime or what, I just think it’s a stupid comment. Period.
31. Just me | October 8th, 2007 at 9:30 am
Amen No.3!!! I was thinking the same thing. The only reason he gets to live in a little villa in northern Farnce is because of the movies he makes in the U.S.
32. 2teens3beans | October 8th, 2007 at 11:07 am
America is not the greatest place to raise kids right now thanks to G.W.B. Last week on the news he was asking for billions more for the military but stated he would not approve extending government health care for uninsured childen. Meanwhile, (2 years later) people are still living under blue tarps in Katrina areas. Our president cares nothing for the people of this country. I am counting the days until he is out of office.
Maybe Johnny Depp will feel differently when Clinton or Obama are in office.
33. sara | October 8th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I have personally lived in Okinawa, Japan for 6 years. I had 2 of my 3 children there. I would raise them there in a heartbeat: no guns, very little crime, clean, and they honor and respect their elders…..
Materialism is very minimal and they cherish what little they have. It’s a great place to raise a family in my opinion.
34. letibe | October 8th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
My father-in-law travels to China @ least 3 times a year & he loves it out there. He claims exactly what #32 sara said. Very clean, low crime rate, kids & adults are very educated, and the people are VERY HARD working.
35. N | October 8th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Some americans hate when you talk negatively about america…… I say …. sometimes the truth hurts!
36. dori | October 8th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Johnny has made this statement before…. and he’s got a point…. comapred to Europe we are a young country and very caught up in materialistic things…. it’s a simpler life there . But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t appreciate America and is not grateful for the work he gets here. He just prefers to not get caught up in the American way of materialisitc and petty BS. The crime the paps the fanatics
He ’s very handsome and a very good actor. Pirates of the Carribean is only a few of the many movies he has made. He’s got loads of talent. Don’t take his comment personally.
37. reality check | October 8th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
I dont think he meant paparazzi.
Look at our society. Kidnapping, murder, serial killers, rapists,husbands killing wives, wives killing husbands, parents killing their kids…its sickening. Take somewhere like Singapore for example. They really do not have much crime there, because they know that if they mess up they will be caned. Here pedophiles get time in prisons then out on parole to go and prey on innocent children again.Our country really needs to take a hard look at what has gone wrong in America..has anyone else noticed that the bad guys now have more rights than the innocent? If someone breaks into your house you have to think twice about defending yourself because they can sue. If that is the american dream then I want no part of it. If I had the money I would take my children somewhere safer too.
38. Lauren | October 8th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I heart Johnny Depp. I think it’s amazing how he states his opnions and he seems like a devoted father. I don’t blame him for not wanting to raise his kids in the U.S. ;)
39. Puh-leeze | October 8th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Completely, 100%, absolutely agree with Mr. Depp. I’m American, born and raised (in a more innocent time) and I have the choice where to raise my children should I have them and I have said from day one that it will NOT be this country! It doesn’t mean I’m not a good American, or that I don’t appreciate what America has given me. It means I want my children to grow up safe and learn something besides the ignorance that causes people to get all huffy about an opinion that doesn’t feed the ego that has them thinking they’re the greatest people and country in the world and no should DARE say otherwise!
40. Zbella | October 8th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
#38 You and I live in a very different America. I live in one where we have freedom of speech (expression). My America is the Land of Opportunity. I guess that’s just an expression to you, but it is real to me. My grandparents came here FROM Europe to have a better life.
Europe has it’s benefits, and I respect that, but I know there is a reason the VAST MAJORITY of people from third world countries (and Europe too) choose to move the the good ol’ USA over any other country.
Of course there’s a portion of the US that is scary and criminal and judge-mental but I don’t think that DEFINES my country.
Again, my USA is full of beauty and hope, freedom and opportunity. I taught ESL for years, and I have known and taught and been friends with hundreds of people who chose to live HERE and have given up everything (education, jobs, family, traditions, language, home) to gain freedom and/or a better life.
You are free, as Johnny Depp is free, to live wherever you choose. You are American – if you were born and raised in Singapore or China, you may not be able to say the same thing. I’m sure it is very nice to live in a very upscale part of those countries. Try being a peasant in China.
My sister is adopting a baby from China. A child that was abandoned. The reasons range from poverty to government pressure to societal pressure. And that’s if the baby is even allowed to be BORN. Now THAT is scary.
41. GB | October 8th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Oriana – why is it important for Vanessa to be pretty (and it is just your opinion that she is not, it depends on one’s personal criteria on what constitutes beauty)? Is someone’s wife only ‘worthwhile’ if she is ‘pretty’? What a shallow viewpoint. True beauty comes from within.
42. oriana | October 8th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Who said she wasn’t worthwhile, I didn’t write that. I said in my opinion she isn’t pretty at all, and to me she isn’t, just like he looks like he needs a bath most of the time!
43. oriana | October 8th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Jenna, instead of say Johnny needs to shut his mouth, I should have said Johnny needs to shut his hyprocritical mouth! I know exactly where he was born and raised, yes, I agree some parts of the US are horrible to raise children in, but he is no one to blow the horn! He was a druggie, a drunk, with no respect for anyone or anything for a long time, and now he is Mr. Snow White! Don’t think so! He wouldn’t be SHIT if it it wasn’t for his success in the U.S. and he knows it!!!!
If he wants to bash the US, there are lots of people that don’t like us but he isn’t anyone to talk! A little too snobbish for me!
44. oriana | October 8th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
#32, sara, Japan is a very nice country, I have lots of Japanese friends and they are very courteous and respectful, but isn’t it amazing that the highest suicide rate in the world among teenagers are from Japan?
45. oriana | October 8th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
If he wants to be French so bad, instead of speaking with a fakey French accent, he should hire a tutor and learn the language and speak it full on full time. Just because he has a French girlfriend, owns land and lives on French soil, he is not French! He is still an American living abroad and his attitude has nothing to do with freedom of speech Jenna, it has to do with arrogance to me! Maybe he can buy some French soap and take a bath!
46. Mellynn | October 8th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Au revoir!!!!!!!
(That was for you, Oriana!!!)
47. oriana | October 8th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Ha! Ha! Love it!!!!!!!!
48. Tia :) | October 9th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Oh boy! Johnny should have thought before saying that! I mean, I am a canadian, im sure there are parts of Canada that are not the best, I however have been raised in beautiful Ontario and i want my children to be raised here! How could you not love, and be proud of your country?? I have been to the US many of times and have loved it each time! ( I actually just got back from beautiful Myrtle Beach!)
Oriana- Your comment about the soap made me laugh! HAHAHAHAHA!!!
49. mememe | October 9th, 2007 at 9:05 am
what scares me the most is the thought of Johnny Depp (gag me!) raising children…
50. oriana | October 9th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Hi Tia, I love the US but I have to say that from what I have heard, Canada is a gorgeous, clean, beautiful country! I would love to come up there! My son went and wants to move there, he says he loves Victoria! He actually found one of my fave candy bars we can’t find here any more, Mars bars! Love them! I have had friends looking in Indiana, Ky, Tenn., Ohio, and Alabama, not to be found any more!
I think Johnny has distanced himself from the US and does read about all the violence and political corruption, he has a good point there, but he also appears very stuck up and is hyprocritical to me. He is cute, but looks aren’t everything, look at Adrien Brody, ugly as sin, but an excellent actor and I haven’t read of any scandal involving him.
Johnny looks he hasn’t bathed for a month, he has looked like that for years, hygiene isn’t a big deal with him, he wasn’t when he was with Kate Moss doing drugs all the time so he hasn’t changed any.
So Johnny, if you don’t want to use that French soap, send it to me, and some lotion too! I’ll use it!
Tia, my Dear, you have a nice day, leaving town for an overnight vist tomorrow and will be back late Thurs. night.
51. N | October 9th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
“He was a druggie, a drunk, with no respect for anyone or anything for a long time, and now he is Mr. Snow White! Don’t think so! ” ……. Thats my argument about Kfed….. Why is it so easy to place this opinion on Jdepp and not Kfed?
52. oriana | October 9th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Who is upholding for Kfef? I am not! He is a big Nothing! At least Johnny has talent. Johnny appears to be a good father now and Kevin appears to be a better parent at this time than Brit. I don’t care for either of them.
53. oriana | October 9th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
KFed came from Fresno, where I am going tomorrow and lived for five years, he was a nobody working at a car wash where I used to get my car cleaned, he would not have anything if not for hooking up for Britney, dumping his girlfriend, his PREGNANT girlfriend, so that showed how much character he had, and she is so stupid she would take him back in a heartbeat!
Johnny came from a town, not even a city, less than 25,000 people, so he is crowing like a rooster now, he was a country boy, made big, struck it lucky with a TV show, in the USA, and then on to bigger and better things! He is the one shooting off his mouth and that is why people are annoyed with him, I don’t think for a minute Kevin is a Saint but he is taking care of his children and for that reason I give him some respect.
54. Mellynn | October 9th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
“C’mon kids, bath time…Oh, wait, I don’t feel like taking one either, so we’ll skip it for a year or two!!!”
55. oriana | October 9th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Can you imagine kissing him? He chews tobacco too! Oh yes, a country boy still!
56. Tea | October 9th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
yes he did make it big in America, So what? I don’t think I recall him ever saying he didn’t appriciate that. So he doesn’t want to raise his kids in the US? Maybe he feels that were he lives in France is more in line with what he has found to be important in life and wants his kids to learn that kind of life, and he never found that in the US. Life everywhere is very differnent (even in different parts of the US) He never found what he wanted there, but found it in France. Then he sees the news with all the violence and horrors that we hear every day happening in the US!! It can drown out any good memories and thoughts of the US quite easily. I really can’t blame him for not wanting to go back.
And big whoop if he used to be wild, I suppose people can’t change and grow up???
57. oriana | October 9th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
I don’t recall him saying he did appreciate anything he accomplished in the US either!
58. oriana | October 9th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Tea, what country he wants to live in is not the whole issue, it is his arrogant attitude!
I wouldn’t mind living in New Zealand either, or Canada too for that matter, but can’t afford it right now, and probably never will be able too, but I won’t bash my roots or my country.
59. Analise | October 9th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
His reason for raising the kids here isn’t JUST because of the paparazzi. Convenient excuse.
60. sara | October 9th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
#42 Oriana: Actually China has the highest suicide rate among High School students. Where I lived was in Okinawa, Japan….the tiny island south of Mainland. It was paradise!!
61. MotherofhandsomeBoys | October 10th, 2007 at 1:35 am
Well said #39! There are some pretty nice places here in the US and I would not want to live anywhere else in the world (and I am a black woman, you know one of those “minorities” that someone mentioned earlier). While I may roam the globe, the US is my home, and it will always be my favorite place to return to! As for Mr. Depp, it is his choice to raise his kid in another country, but it would be nice if he took the time to help improve America instead of trashing it!
62. COURTNEY ( UK) | October 10th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I AM FROM THE UK AND PEOPLE HEAR THINK AMERICANS ARE THICK,FAT,AND MOST OF ALL ………………………
AMERICANS ARE STUCK UP THERE OWN ARSES !!! THER U GO
63. AmericanBorn | October 10th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
I am American-born with family in the UK. I know for a fact that #60 is just generalizing Americans-my family obviously does not feel that way as they love both the US and the UK. So stop hating on people you don’t know and stop giving the UK a bad name -you don’t speak for everyone!
64. Zbella | October 11th, 2007 at 3:13 am
Yes, Courtney. I have lived abroad. I have also learned that people are most often hateful of things they fear or envy. A lot of Americans are stuck up – but we see it as being confident and happy. I’m where I want to be, you are where you want to be – so why the bitter attitude?
65. Rachie UK | October 11th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Don’t be ridiculous you lot! obviously the paparazzi would annoy him i’m sure, but at the end of the day it comes with the territory. but surely you can all see all the other crap that goes on in your country, and understand why someone might not think it’s a good influence on his children. if he’s living somewhere else then he’s doig in for his kids, but personally, i think he has a point! go to france and im sure you’d see the difference instantly…
66. Rachie UK | October 11th, 2007 at 8:10 am
*doing it
67. kim--original kim | October 11th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
There is no doubt that we Americans live in the greatest country there is….land of freedom, opportunity, and everyone has rights that are unheard of in other parts of the world.
Yes, there’s too many guns, pedophiles, etc. But overall, this is the BEST place to live.
68. Rachie UK | October 11th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
hmmmmm…
69. Jenna M. (UK) | October 11th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
I don’t mean to criticise America Kim but that its the best country in the world is a very subjective viewpoint. And not everyone in America has rights that are unheard of in the rest of the world.
Look at gay marriage (not just civil parnerships), abortion lawsor the hate crime law ammendment which your great president is refusing to pass to include protection gay and disabled people! Or the right to get shot just because someone else has the right to “bear arms”. Just to name a few.
Of course there are many rights in America that don’t exist in other countries, but there are many more that exist in other countries but not in America. The United States may not be one of the worst places to live in the world, but it is certainly far from being the best.
70. Jenna M. (UK) | October 11th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Anyway I don’t know how this turned into a debate about whose country is better. Every single country in the world had good and bad points and will be better than others in some aspects but worse in others.
The whole point of this article was simply about Johnny Depp’s personal opinion (which by the way is OVER FIVE YEARS OLD, WM what is with that?). Topped of course by the WM’s very objective (!) title.
71. Jenna M. (UK) | October 11th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Courtney UK – please don’t generalise and try to speak for all us Brits. I live in the UK and I don’t think that all Americans are thick, fat, up their own arses and whatever else you said. In fact, I happen to like Americans. Just because a couple of people in this country are ignorant doesn’t mean we all are, so please only speak for yourself in the future!
72. Ignoranceisbless! | October 11th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Hah Johnney has it pegged…ignorance is bless!!!
73. Granny | October 12th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Courtney, I’m about to visit England again (next) week as I do every year for many years.. And I will be revisiting some long term friends that are English. And it appears all of our English friends and their families and the others that I have met through them like Americans just fine. So I don’t think I will be able to give your statement much credence.
74. Melissa | October 14th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I can’t believe how immature these comments are. What do his opinions on American society have to do with his or Vanessa’s physical appearance? Your comments are juvenile and shallow. The whole basis of freedom of speech and democracy is being able to voice your opinion. Johnny voiced his, that he feels like America is not a safe place to raise his children. He has that right as a father to do what he feels is best for his family. And after all the school shootings recently, I don’t know if I’ll be sending my children to public high school. Too many predators and too many psychos with guns. At least Johnny won’t really have to worry about that too much while living in a small village in the South of France.
75. Melissa | October 14th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Plus, this interview is nothing new. It’s been re-hashed from an interview in 1999, before his son was born. Which is why he only mentions his daughter. If this was new, he would’ve said “my children.” Everytime he’s got a movie coming out, they bring up the same crap. Johnny maintains their home in Los Angeles, spending a lot more time there in the recent years and his daughter has gone to school there. So all these ppl overreacting about this need to stop and check the facts.
76. So Proud | October 15th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I dont understand why some of you are so offended by the fact that he doesnt want to raise his children in the United States. Im from Canada, and personally, I dont blame him one bit for not wanting to raise his kids there. You cant tell me that you are so proud of your county that you cant admit that there are many problems there!!
Someone above mentioned all of the ’scary’ things about the U.S. The murders, bomb threats, gangs, robberies, breaking & entering, etc. These crimes are out of control in the U.S. Plus, look at society and how ‘money’ & ‘beauty’ are the two main factors to be ‘happy’ in the U.S. If you dont have BOTH of these qualities, you meen nothing. (not my opinion, thats just how it comes off in America) (and yes, I know Canada is known for it too, but not quite as bad).
Stop being so proud for just a minute, and realize the problems that are going on, and understand why Johnny doesnt want his family there!!
77. Jessica | July 9th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Don’t hate, he’s right. I hardly ever see this man being photographed, but I do see Brangelina everyday. It’s his opinion and I think America is scary too! Don’t hate!!