Depp's Agent Says Heard's 'Catastrophic' Abuse Op-Ed Scuppered $22.5 Mln Deal for 'Pirates' Film
09:14 GMT 03.05.2022 (Updated: 10:17 GMT 03.05.2022)
© AP Photo / Alvaro Barrientos
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At a trial that started on 11 April, Johnny Depp is suing ex-wife Amber Heard for $50 million, claiming she defamed him and ruined his career after she wrote about being a survivor of domestic violence in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed, albeit never mentioning him by name. The actor’s lawyers say it was clear Heard was referencing him.
Johnny Depp’s agent has testified that Amber Heard's damning 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post describing herself as an abuse victim was “catastrophic” for the Hollywood actor’s career.
In Monday’s testimony at the ongoing Depp defamation trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court, agent Jack Whigham insisted that the story in which Heard portrayed herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”, despite never mentioning Depp by name, was uniquely damaging to the actor’s career.
He also said that it had been “rather shocking because it was the first time I'd heard an allegation of sexual abuse”.
“It was extremely impactful”, Whigham said, referring to the 2018 op-ed. He added in his testimony via video-link:
“With respect to Johnny, it was catastrophic because it was coming from a first-person account, it was not from a journalist, not someone observing, it was from someone saying 'this happened to me'”.
Jack Whigham, #JohnnyDepp's talent manager, said that the actor did not appear in any studio films between the day #AmberHeard's Washington Post op-ed was published in December 2018 and October 2020. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/R4BvrkZsHI
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) May 2, 2022
The actor’s lawyers say he was defamed by the op-ed because of the distinct reference to abuse allegations Heard first levied in 2016. At the time, four days after filing for divorce from Depp on 23 May 2016, Heard obtained a temporary restraining order against the Oscar-nominated actor.
She alleged that Depp, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, physically abused her during their relationship.
Actor Johnny Depp attends his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on April 13, 2022
© AFP 2023 / EVELYN HOCKSTEIN
According to Jack Whigham, after the initial allegations made against him in 2016, Johnny Depp continued his acting career throughout 2017, receiving $8 million for “City Of Lies”, $10 million for “Murder on the Orient Express”, and $13.5 million for “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”. All these films were shot under contracts reached prior to the allegations made against Depp.
However, in the wake of Amber Heard’s op-ed in 2018, Depp was reportedly forced to take a pay cut to appear in the independent film “Minimata”. But most importantly, the celebrity’s $22.5 million verbal deal with Disney to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow for a sixth instalment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise was scuppered.
The agent stated that Disney opted to go in a “different direction” and said it planned to develop a “Pirates project” involving actress Margot Robbie instead. The movie project alluded to is yet to be made.
Depp was also dropped from his "Fantastic Beasts" franchise recasting, with Mads Mikkelsen cast to portray his Gellert Grindelwald dark wizard character.
The talent manager for Johnny Depp testified that after the op-ed, “it was impossible to get him a studio film which is what we would have normally been focused on”.
Richard Marks, an entertainment lawyer, similarly took the stand to offer the jury his assessment of the impact that Heard's opinion column in The Washington Post (printed in Fairfax County) had on Depp's career.
“The op-ed damaged Mr. Depp, created a cancel situation if you will, harmed his reputation and ability to get work in the Hollywood industry”, Marks stated, adding that the blowback from the op-ed on Depp's reputation was “devastating”.
During the cross-examination, Amber Heard’s lawyers questioned whether there had been any written deal for a sixth “Pirates” film, prompting Whigham to acknowledge this had not been the case.
He added that “Pirates” producer Jerry Bruckheimer had spoken favourably throughout 2018 about Depp reprising his starring role in the franchise.
Heard’s lawyers also cited a succession of other factors that may have damaged Depp’s image more than the Post article. They referred to reports of heavy drug and alcohol use, as well as a separate libel lawsuit the actor filed against British newspaper The Sun in 2018 over a story calling him a "wife-beater".
A judge stated in 2020 that The Sun had proved what was in the article to be "substantially true" and found that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence had occurred. Johnny Depp's lawyer slammed the ruling at the time as "perverse".
The defamation trial has now entered its fourth week. While a greater part of the testimony during the first three weeks focused on the relationship between Depp and Heard, the “Aquaman” actress herself is expected to testify later this week.
