Johnny Depp Calls Himself A ‘Crash Test Dummy For #MeToo’
Johnny Depp is a Hollywood royalty, after all, he is the man who turned a rum-soaked pirate into a pop culture icon and showed up to award shows dressed like…
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – DECEMBER 12: Johnny Depp attends the “Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness” Screening at the Red Sea International Film Festival 2024 on December 12, 2024 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival)
Johnny Depp is a Hollywood royalty, after all, he is the man who turned a rum-soaked pirate into a pop culture icon and showed up to award shows dressed like your eccentric uncle who moonlights as a magician. In short, he doesn’t give an “F” and will do whatever it is that he wants.
However, Depp’s royalty status did not shield him from abuse allegations during his messy split from actress Amber Heard. What followed was less a standard legal proceeding and more a reputation match, played out on livestreams, memes, and TikToks. Post-trials and post-PR disasters, Depp is reflecting on what happened and positioning himself as the first guy who got hit head-on by the reckoning that came with the #MeToo movement.
Johnny Depp a “Crash Test Dummy For #MeToo”
In an interview with The Sunday Times (via Variety), Depp called himself a “crash test dummy for #MeToo” following the messy legal proceedings involving him and Heard. The trial garnered global attention, and in the aftermath, Depp lost lucrative projects, including his gig as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and as Gellert Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. During the trials, shocking details about Depp and Heard’s personal lives were revealed.
Depp said, “Look, it had gone far enough. I knew I’d have to semi-eviscerate myself. Everyone was saying, ‘It’ll go away!’ But I can’t trust that. What will go away? The fiction pawned around the f—ing globe? No, it won’t.” He added, “If I don’t try to represent the truth, it will be like I’ve actually committed the acts I am accused of. And my kids will have to live with it. Their kids. Kids that I’ve met in hospitals. So, the night before the trial in Virginia, I didn’t feel nervous. If you don’t have to memorize lines, if you’re just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.”
Fight Until the End
For Depp, it’s a matter of all or nothing: “None of this was going be easy, but I didn’t care. I thought, ‘I’ll fight until the bitter f—ing end.’ And if I end up pumping gas? That’s all right. I’ve done that before.”
Depp is now enjoying a career resurgence after the Depp v. Heard trial from April 11 to June 1, 2022, where the jury found Heard’s statements from her op-ed were false, defamed Depp, and were written with malice.
Depp will soon be seen in an upcoming action thriller film, Day Drinker, with Penélope Cruz and Madelyn Cline.
