Actor Johnny Depp has been in court suing his ex-wife Amber Heard in a very public $50 million defamation case. While the information on both sides has been sad and disturbing, to say the least, we’ve been looking at how their toxic relationship has affected either party professionally. During cross-examination, we learned an interesting tidbit about Depp’s future as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
One admission that came from Depp during the process, via Variety, is that there is nothing Disney could offer the actor that would convince him to return to his iconic and Oscar-nominated role as Captain Jack Sparrow. At one point Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn asks Depp, “The fact is, Mr. Depp, if Disney came to you with $300 million and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a Pirates of the Caribbean film? Correct?” To the question, Depp replies, “That is true, Mr. Rottenborn.”
The defamation case against Heard was sparked by her 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she detailed alleged abuse that she suffered at the hands of the actor. Heard never mentions Depp by name but he believes that the article has damaged his career significantly, even costing him the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean 6.
Depp said in his testimony that even though Disney kept the image of Jack Sparrow in all avenues of the franchise, including theme park rides, etc, the actor himself was pushed out. Depp said, “They didn’t remove my character from the rides. They didn’t stop selling dolls of Captain Jack Sparrow. They didn’t stop selling anything. They just didn’t want there to be something trailing behind me that they’d find.” Depp claims that he was dropped from the sixth film days after the op-ed piece was published. When a Daily Mail article claimed that Depp was “out as Jack Sparrow”, that was the first the actor had heard of it but he wasn’t surprised.
“I wasn’t aware of that, but it doesn’t surprise me. Two years had gone by of constant worldwide talk about me being a wife beater. So, I’m sure that Disney was trying to cut ties to be safe. The #MeToo movement was in full swing at that point.”
This whole process has been pretty ugly to watch as both parties don’t come out of this looking all that great. It’ll be interesting to see the outcome of the case, not just what is determined in this suit, but also how it will shape both of their careers moving forward.
What are YOUR thoughts on Johnny Depp never returning to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise?