Johnny Depp has rejected the idea of a “comeback,” stating that he never left, and stated that he has “no regrets” about his court struggle with his ex-partner Amber Heard, characterizing the ordeal as a necessary fight for truth and reputation.
Depp talked extensively about the personal and professional repercussions of the defamation trial that made news in 2022 in an open interview with The Times UK.
After Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she asserted that she had suffered domestic abuse, the actor won a well-known case in Virginia. Despite not being mentioned in the story, Depp claimed it had defamed him, and a jury decided in his favor. A monetary settlement that was later given to charity marked the end of the case.
“My return? To be honest? Depp remarked, “I didn’t go anywhere.” “I would never return if I had the opportunity to part ways.”
Although he appreciated the support he received from some areas, especially the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain, which honored him with the Donostia Award during the height of the issue, he referred to the professional ramifications from the claims as a “boycott.”
He mentioned that his film Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness was well received at the same festival the previous year and added, “They stuck with me through all the hit pieces, the bullsh–.”
Speaking about the actual trial, Depp stated that he had no regrets. “Because, really, what can we do regarding the dinner from last week? “Not a f—ing thing,” he said, adding that he purposefully chose to pursue the matter in public in order to defend himself and preserve his children’s opinion of him.
Everyone said, ‘It will go gone.'” However, I can’t rely on it,” he stated. “What will disappear? The f—ing world was pawned by the fiction? No, it won’t. It will appear as though I have truly done the crimes for which I am charged if I don’t make an effort to portray the truth. My children will also have to put up with it.
Recalling his feelings the night before the trial started, Depp went on to justify his choice, saying, “I didn’t feel nervous.” If you’re telling the truth, and I don’t need to commit lines to memory? Let’s roll the dice.
The 61-year-old also mentioned how unsupported he felt at the time in the industry, implying that he had turned into a MeToo movement test subject.
“I existed before #MeToo. For #MeToo, I served as a kind of crash test dummy. Before Harvey Weinstein, that is. And I absorbed everything,” he remarked. I wanted to find out who was being cautious from the hundreds of folks I’ve met in that field. You had better get woke!
Depp said he was happy to have confronted the situation head-on despite the upheaval. “Look,” he added, “I didn’t care that none of this was going to be easy.” “I’ll fight to the bitter f—ing end,” I thought. Moreover, what if I wind up selling gas? It’s okay. I had previously done that.
One of the most widely followed court cases in recent memory was the trial and its aftermath, which included an unparalleled amount of social media attention. Subsequent analysis revealed that a large portion of the online animosity directed toward Heard was either fabricated or manipulated.
