Here’s a weird one. Johnny Depp, the actor who spent part of the summer in a Virginia court uncovering details of his tumultuous domestic life with his ex-wife Amber heard, appears as a model in Rihannait is Savage x Fenty Vol. 4 show, released on Wednesday. News of Depp’s impending cameo leaked last week via TMZ, although it was originally intended as a “surprise” spot. It was Rihanna’s idea to feature Depp in the show for her lingerie and loungewear line, TMZ reported.
Now that it’s out in the streaming world and available to watch, what about Depp’s appearance? He heads to Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean.” He is wearing what appears to be a silk robe. Her facial hair is styled in a way that fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise can easily recognize this. He kisses a tree. It wouldn’t deserve comment if Johnny Depp wasn’t this Johnny Depp, the one who’s been on the winning streak since a jury of his peers found Heard defamed him three times in a 2018 op-ed published in The Washington Post in favor of the reauthorization of the law on violence against women. (She appealed the decision.)
Neither Rihanna herself nor the brand has explained why she put Depp on the show, so we’re still wondering. He’s not the first celebrity Rihanna has featured; in fact, she usually casts a wide net for these cases. Cindy Crawford, Emily Ratajkowski, Jeremy Pope, Troye Sivan, and Madonna’s daughter Lola Leon have each taken a turn before. Depp isn’t even the only celeb in this year’s cast. Actors Simu Liu, Taraji P. Henson, and Sheryl Lee Ralph appear, as do social media creators like Ricky Thompson and Bella Poarch. There are shows of Burna Boy and Maxwell, among others. (In an interview filmed by Amazon before the release, Rihanna shouts out Burna Boy, Don Toliver, Anita Ralph and Maxwell as people she’s thrilled to have on the show.)
There’s a range of exciting talent on the show and Depp’s cameo is short, but his inclusion is the default billboard – all others fall under his shadow. The actor’s casting seems odd for a lot of reasons, but mostly because Rihanna doesn’t really need to do that sort of thing. She has a starving fanbase – her “Marine” is among the most fervent and oldest of the internet’s armies of fans. Although they certainly have As new music, they will also buy her makeup and lingerie. She always surfed above the quagmire and seemed to live entirely on her own terms. She put the likes of Duck and everyone who has tried anything with it for them. Courting controversy has never been for his.
And what else to call it, regardless of Rihanna’s reasons for casting Depp on her show? It’s hard to imagine him doing so if Depp hadn’t sued Heard for defamation, resulting in an atrocious and massively public civil lawsuit that has split opinion in two. There were those who believed his version of events and hated Heard with terrifying vitriol and those who believed Depp was punishing his ex-wife with the full force of the American justice system because he could afford it. Whatever Rihanna thinks, she dumps it.
Then again, watching Depp hit the track on Amazon Prime, it was hard to shake the feeling that’s of a piece we’ve been with lately. Increasingly, there’s a pervasive sense that celebrities, those who once needed fans to advance their careers, are drifting further into an island kingdom that only ever interacts with our common sense of reality ( or what’s left of it) when he has something to sell. David Chapel does stand-up sets for his famous friends on Netflix. An ad featuring Matt Damon implores you to buy cryptos. Paris Hilton talking about NFT on jimmy fallonthe late night show. Katy Perry enthusiastically shares his vote in the race for mayor of Los Angeles to become real estate baron and former Republican Rick Caruso, who reportedly supported anti-abortion politicians and groups. Gwyneth Paltrow made a whole and lucrative second career out of her distance from everyday people, monetizing the controversy she could spark just for being publicly out of touch.
Rihanna has almost always looked different. One of the last contemporary figures to which one could apply the much overused iconic unflinchingly. She was cool on her own terms. Her last big misstep was Rihanna’s plane and that barely counts. The only people who suffered there were journalists, which we can all agree is hilarious.
Savage x Fenty could benefit in the short term from the choice to launch Depp. His fans are powerfully vocal and loyal and, if Dior’s takeover of his Sauvage deal this summer is any indication, willing to spend their disposable income on products he’s associated with. (Dior Beauty did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) In the long term too, she will probably fly over this controversy she is courting. It’s Rihanna! She will play the Super Bowl as planned, release this long-awaited record. His fans will be his fans despite this strange breach.
But for now let’s face this: it’s weird.