Johnny Depp: an unruly misfit who has a troubled relationship with fame
The actor’s acrimonious split from Amber Heard is just the latest chapter in a life that has been reluctantly played out in public
Hannah Ellis-Petersen Saturday 20 August 2016 07.00 BS
B
uccaneer. Troubadour. Beatnik cowboy. The words that have been used to describe Johnny Depp through the decades make him sound less like an actor and more like a rogue character from a children’s book. They also go a long way to explaining the strange mythology that surrounds Depp, who has become one of Hollywood’s most bankable and highest paid stars, all while maintaining the persona of an unruly misfit.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp at the Fairfax county circuit courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia on 16 May 2022. Photograph: Steve Helber/AP
Amber Heard to appeal order to pay $10m in Depp defamation case
Heard to appeal court’s ruling ordering her to pay ex-husband Johnny Depp, which came at the conclusion of a high-profile trial
Friday 22 July 2022
Amber Heard on Thursday appealed a Virginia court’s ruling ordering her to pay ex-husband Johnny Depp over $10m during a high-profile defamation trial that exposed the inner workings of their troubled marriage.
Heard’s lawyers filed documents in Fairfax county circuit court, where a six-week trial featured riveting testimony from both Heard and Depp. The document notifies the Virginia court of appeals that Heard intends to appeal the judgment, as well as rulings the judge made after the verdict, including rejecting Heard’s request to set aside the verdict and dismiss the lawsuit or order a new trial.
“We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the first amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict,” a spokesperson for Heard said in a statement. “While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
Depp sued Heard for libel over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”.
Depp’s lawyers alleged he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned him by name. Heard filed counterclaims, alleging that Depp’s former lawyer defamed her by publicly characterizing her abuse allegations as a hoax.
The jury ordered Heard to pay Depp $10m in compensatory damages and $5m in punitive damages. The punitive damages were reduced to $350,000 under a state cap. The jury awarded Heard $2m on her counterclaim.
Much of the testimony during the six-week trial focused on Heard’s claims that she had been physically and sexually abused by Depp at least a dozen times. Depp insisted that he never hit Heard and that she was the abuser.
“The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr Depp in multiple instances,” a spokesperson for Depp said in a statement. “We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”
Johnny Depp at court in Fairfax County, Va. Photo by Steve Helber
Why Johnny Depp
lost his libel case
in the U.K.
but won in the U.S.
By Elahe Izadi and Sarah Ellison June 1, 2022 at 9:05 p.m. EDT
The outcome of the Johnny Depp defamation trial turned a bit of celebrity jurisprudence on its head — the long-standing conventional wisdom that it’s easier for a VIP to prevail with a libel claim in the United Kingdom than in the United States.
Amber Heard arrives at the premiere of "Aquaman" on Dec. 12 in Los Angeles. (Jordan Strauss/Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
OpinionAmber Heard:
I spoke up against sexual
violence — and faced
our culture’s wrath.
That has to change.
By Amber Heard
December 18, 2018 at 5:58 p.m. ESTEditor’s note, June 2, 2022: In 2019, Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard for defamation arising out of this 2018 op-ed. On June 1, 2022, following a trial in Fairfax County, Va. Circuit Court, a jury found Heard liable on three counts for the following statements, which Depp claimed were false and defamatory: (1) “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” (2) “Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.” (3) “I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.” The jury separately found that Depp, through his lawyer Adam Waldman, defamed Heard in one of three counts in her countersuit.
Amber Heard was 'sociopathic', claims Johnny Depp's aide
Stephen Deuters alleged actor’s ex-wife subjected him to ‘years of abuse’ in Sun libel trial
PM MEDIA Monday 13 july 2020
Amber Heard was “sociopathic”, a “Machiavellian overlord” and the “abuser” in the relationship between her and Johnny Depp, the actor’s former personal assistant has claimed in the high court.
In a New Court Filing, Amber Heard Claims Johnny Depp Threatened to Kill Her
Emily Alford
April 12, 2019
A Virginia court filing that serves as a response to Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard contains absolutely horrifying details about Depp’s alleged domestic violence during their relationship.
In a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, Heard wrote about her experience with domestic violence without naming Depp. In March 2019, Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against Heard. In her response to the new lawsuit, Heard alleges that Depp ripped out her hair, punched her, and threatened to kill her on multiple occasions when he became delusional and violent after abusing drugs and alcohol. During one such instance, Heard claims that Depp was up for three days straight on an MDMA bender, during which time, she says:
Johnny Depp in November 2017. With each new controversy, will audiences still turn up to watch him? Photograph: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
Johnny Depp: how Hollywood's biggest star fell from grace
As another lawsuit hits the actor, accusing him of creating a ‘toxic’ work environment, his status as the industry’s most wanted leading man shows no sign of returning
Rory Carroll in Los Angeles
Fri 4 May 2018
The descriptions sound like a typical day at sea for Captain Jack Sparrow: “volatile”, “reckless”, “vices”, “chaos”, “hurricane”.
The Pirates of the Caribbean character is, after all, a drunken pirate who sails through fiascos and misadventures.
It is Johnny Depp, however, not Sparrow, who is accused of presiding over such mayhem in a drama playing out not on screen but in court.
Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Two bodyguards made the allegations in a lawsuit this week which piled fresh acrimony on Depp’s reputation, renewing doubts over his future as Hollywood’s quirkiest and possibly most beloved leading man.
The multi-claim lawsuit over unpaid wages and working conditions detailed a lifestyle of dysfunction and chaos.
Eugene Arreola and Miguel Sanchez alleged that a “financial hurricane” and a “toxic” environment enveloped Depp’s Hollywood Hills compound from 2016.
The suit alleges: “Often times plaintiffs were forced to protect Depp from himself and his vices while in public. An incident at a local nightclub involved plaintiffs alerting Depp of illegal substances visible on his face and person while preventing onlookers from noticing Depp’s condition.”
More damning allegations can be expected if the ex-employees obtain a jury trial in Los Angeles superior court. Depp’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment over the latest allegations.
It is a puzzle straight out of Hollywood Babylon: how can a star who has reputedly earned more than $650m struggle to pay his bills?
The question may be better addressed to psychologists than accountants. The money is not missing. Depp, 54, spent it. Even Captain Sparrow might wince at such excess.
Profligacy barely counts as vice in Hollywood but Depp’s epic expenditure – in addition to fast cars and planes he bought a French village, a $22m yacht and a string of Caribbean islands while allegedly blowing through $2m a month, including $30,000 a month on wine – rivals that of the castle-collecting Nicholas Cage.
In recent years this has led to Depp clashing with, firing and suing a rotating retinue of managers and lawyers, who in turn have sued him over allegedly broken contracts and unpaid fees, draining more funds from the Depp treasure chest and dumping more revelations about his private life overboard into the public maw.
Financial troubles alone would not necessarily dent the mystique of an actor who stole teenage hearts in 21 Jump Street, then stole adult hearts in Cry-Baby, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Edward Scissorhands, Chocolat and the Pirates franchise.
Droll charm and offbeat roles in films like Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd cemented an image of a rogueish misfit who tripped into stardom and ended up dating Winona Ryder, Kate Moss and Vanessa Paradis.
Bizarre episodes like firing the ashes of Hunter S Thompson from a cannon (cost: $3m) and smuggling his Yorkshire terriers Pistol and Boo into Australia only burnished the kooky vibe. The glow survived even commercial and critical duds like The Lone Ranger and The Tourist – box office analysts said he was overpaid – and fatigue with Pirates sequels.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp in 2015. Photograph: Alec Michael/Rex/Shutterstock
Amber Heard filed for divorce and obtained a temporary restraining order, alleging physical and verbal abuse. A leaked video showed him raging in their kitchen.
The couple settled their divorce in a $7m deal and issued a joint statement saying their relationship was “intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love”.
This did not appease Harry Potter fans, who launched petitions demanding that the makers of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, drop Depp as the film’s villain. It was an unfamiliar sting for a star used to basking in affection at the People’s Choice awards.
Warner Bros and JK Rowling have stuck with Depp for Fantastic Beasts, sparing him banishment to the ranks of #MeToo blackguards. “The film-makers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies,” Rowling said in a statement.
But in a climate where actors such as Kevin Spacey and Kian Lawley are being replaced after misconduct, some observers worry about the long-lasting effect of his role.
Forbes’ Scott Mendelson suggests that his place in the film “will poison the entire franchise’s legacy” while Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, has said they he can “see why people are frustrated” with the situation.
Depp’s career – and bank balance – will partly hinge on whether Disney gives Captain Sparrow a sixth Pirates film (the last outing was a disappointment domestically but made $794m worldwide). But with each controversy, will audiences still turn up to watch him?
JK Rowling has defended her decision to keep Johnny Depp in the role of Grindelwald for the Fantastic Beasts sequel.
JK Rowling: 'I'm genuinely happy to have Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts sequel'
Screenwriter says fans raised ‘legitimate concerns’ about Depp’s casting following domestic abuse allegations by his ex-wife Reuters Friday 8 December 2017
Harry Potter author JK Rowling on Thursday defended the decision to cast Johnny Depp in the next Fantastic Beasts movie, after a backlash from fans unhappy about the circumstances of the actor’s recent divorce.
In a statement on her personal website, Rowling said filmmakers had considered recasting the role of villain Gellert Grindelwald for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the sequel to 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
But she said the circumstances of Depp’s divorce from actor Amber Heard last year were private and should be respected.
The Warner Bros movie, due to be released in November 2018, is the second of a planned five movie spinoff franchise from the blockbuster Harry Potter films.
“Harry Potter fans had legitimate questions and concerns about our choice to continue with Johnny Depp in the role,” Rowling wrote.
Johnny Depp
“The agreements that have been put in place to protect the privacy of two people, both of whom have expressed a desire to get on with their lives, must be respected.
“The filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies,” Rowling said.
After reaching a private settlement in August 2016, the couple issued a joint statement saying their relationship was “intensely passionate and at times volatile but always bound by love,” and that there was “never any intent of physical or emotional harm”.
Warner Bros said in a statement on Thursday that it supported the decision to keep Depp. Director David Yates and producer David Heyman also said in a joint statement that while recognising “the magnitude of the issues raised” they stood by the decision to cast Depp.
“There’s an issue at the moment where there’s a lot of people being accused of things, they’re being accused by multiple victims, and it’s compelling and frightening,” he said. “With Johnny, it seems to me there was one person who took a pop at him and claimed something ... Whatever accusation was out there doesn’t tally with the kind of human being I’ve been working with.”
Depp’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
