IDK, I can understand giving up certain principles to reach your goal, such as acting in movies you know to be shit, and I guess not speaking up against Polanski might be one of those things, but I think it's basic decency and not a very big risk to just not sign the petition. Plus, a lot of the people who signed the petition are pretty big names, and it includes people like Salman Rushdie, who I think we can safely say didn't sign it out of fear for reprisals.

I think people like Depp look at it as an artistic investment or something. Ie, it's something used to create great art.

Yeah, which is kind of a variation - if not as harsh - on what I said. The belief that if you're good enough at what you do, you should be allowed to do whatever.