When Asked About Playing Crime Boss Whitey Bulger, Johnny Depp Gives Answer That Has Many Infuriated

Actor Johnny Depp said Tuesday before a private screening of "Black Mass" that he isn't convinced former Boston crime boss James 'Whitey' Bulger was "pure evil" because he doesn't think "that exists."

"Anybody and everybody, especially the families and the victims, can say he is just an evil person. I just don't believe that exists," Depp told reporters in the Boston area.

He added, "I think that people have their humanity, I think they have their — everything they have carried since they were children, and there is a side to James Bulger that is not just that man who was in that business."

Depp's comments on Bulger, who was convicted in 2013 of playing a role in at least 11 murders, immediately resulted in backlash.

WBZ-TV personality Jon Keller tweeted that Depp made an "utter fool of himself" and that he would no longer be "subsidizing his ignorance" on the radio tomorrow.

Others chimed in, blasting the actor for his remarks.

Previous to his conviction in 2013, Bulger was at large for 16 years and listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, only behind Osama Bin Laden.

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