Johnny Depp‘s viability as an actor became the subject of his libel lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Depp sues Heard for $50 million in 2018 Washington Post editorial in which she identified herself as a survivor of domestic violence. Depp has denied the allegations she made against him. (Heard, who did not name Depp in his article, is counter-suing for $100 million.)
In pre-recorded testimony shown to the courtroom on Wednesday, Heard’s former agent Christian Carin, who also served as Depp’s agent for a time, testified that Depp lost his role in Pirates of the Caribbean 6 because of Heard’s allegations. “My opinion is that it was related to the charges brought by Amber,” he said. Carino clarified that he had not spoken to anyone connected to the pirate franchise outside the producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who did not specifically say that Depp was written off the show due to the allegations. Carino’s belief in Depp’s career is the result of “conversations with colleagues and studio executives…internal and external,” the agent said. He added: “It’s something within the industry that is understood.”
Depp’s turbulent career has been a recurring theme throughout his defense. “It’s been six years of hard times,” the Oscar nominee, who originated the role of Jack Sparrow, the protagonist of the pirate series, in 2003, said during his testimony on April 19. “It’s kind of weird when one day you’re Cinderella, so to speak, and then 0.6 seconds [later] you are Quasimodo. I didn’t deserve this, neither my children, nor the people who believed in me all these years. I didn’t want any of these people to believe that I had wronged them or lied to them or that I was an impostor. I pride myself on honesty.
In his opening statement, Depp’s attorney, Benjamin Chew, supported this account by saying: “For nearly 30 years, Mr. Depp has built a reputation as one of the most talented actors in Hollywood, a respected entertainer whose name was associated with box success -office. Today, his name is associated with a lie, a false statement made by his ex-wife.
During his testimony, Depp said his career hit new heights after his role in Pirates of the Caribbean, but that Disney cut ties with him less than a week after Heard published his op-ed. Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn, argued that any professional misfortune was Depp’s doing. “Johnny Depp’s reputation is in tatters,” Rottenborn said. “His career is in freefall, but it’s because of the problems he created, the problems he’s responsible for. And he’s here in court asking you to blame Amber for them, but it’s not Amber’s fault. They come from the choices he made.
During cross-examination, Rottenborn referred to an October 2018 incident. Daily mail article reporting that Depp had dated as Jack Sparrow—published two months before his client’s op-ed appeared in The Washington Post. “I wasn’t aware of that, but it doesn’t surprise me,” Depp said. “Two years had passed without the world constantly talking about me as this woman beater. So I’m sure Disney was trying to cut ties to be safe. The #MeToo movement was in full swing at that time,” he said, referring to Heard’s original restraining order against him in 2016.
Depp’s position in the pirate the films weren’t the only project affected by the allegations. He was released from his commitments to the fantastic beasts franchise after losing a defamation case in which dark details emerged against The sunwho called Depp a “wife beater” in 2020. Variety reported at the time that AT&T’s merger with Warner Bros.’ parent company Time Warner led to less tolerance for “wooing mercurial – but historically popular – talent like Depp.” Warner Bros. replaced Depp with Mads Mikkelsen in the recently released third installment of fantastic beasts but paid Depp his full $16 million salary after shooting just one scene.
During an interview with the UK Sunday time Last August, Depp claimed Hollywood had boycotted him, citing his film’s long-delayed release. Minamata. The film, in which he plays American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, received a paltry theatrical release earlier this year after being shelved for more than a year.