Johnny Depp Speaks Out: Hollywood Is Boycotting Me

Johnny Depp has given his first published interview since losing a libel suit opposite the owner of The Sun newspaper in London…. and he had quite a bit to say. Depp spoke with The Sunday Times (which USA TODAY said is in the same publishing group as The Sun). While speaking in what The Times’ Jonathan Dean described as “riddles” and “broken sentences,” Depp mentioned “Hollywood’s boycott of, erm, me.”

Warner Bros. Pictures replaced Depp with Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald in the “Fantastic Beasts” series. And MGM will not release Depp’s new movie, Manamata, which tells the story of Life photographer W. Eugene Smith uncovering mercury poisoning of Japanese villagers, in the United States.

“One man, one actor in an unpleasant and messy situation, over the last number of years?” the actor of Captain Jack Sparrow said. “But, you know, I’m moving towards where I need to go to make all that … To bring things to light.”

Depp vs. Heard

A year after Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard were married (six years ago), they separated in what morphed into a combative, relatively long breakup. Both individuals claimed poor conduct by the other prior to their divorce eventually being decided. Depp filed the lawsuit against The Sun after the paper described him as as “wife-beater” in a piece regarding Heard’s claims of abuse. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor has regularly renounced that he abused Heard and has filed a $50 million defamation suit against her over Heard’s claims in an Washington Post opinion piece that Depp abused her.

Appreciation For Fans

Depp noted the support from his fans who have “stayed on the ride with me. They have always been my employers,” Depp remarked”

“I’m proud of these people, because of what they are trying to say, which is the truth. The truth they’re trying to get out since it doesn’t in more mainstream publications. It’s a long road that sometimes gets clunky. Sometimes just plain stupid.”

He also said that he won’t cease acting even in the #MeToo culture. “Actually, I look forward to the next few films I make to be my first films, in a way. Because once you’ve … Well, look,” he said. “The way they wrote it in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is that when you see behind the curtain, it’s not him. When you see behind the curtain, there’s a whole lot of (expletive) squished into one spot. All praying that you don’t look at them. And notice them.”

He looked back on his life as of late with Dean. Depp also placed those who have endured pain from COVID-19 side be side with the Japanese villagers who were poisoned. “That’s like getting scratched by a kitten,” he said of what he’s endured. “Comparatively.”

Minamata

Telling Dean that the last five years have been “surreal,” Depp also talked with about his new film, Minamata. Depp is also one of the film’s producers.

Of the villagers depicted in the movie, he said, “We looked these people in the eyeballs and promised we would not be exploitative.”

“That the film would be respectful,” Depp said. “I believe that we’ve kept our end of the bargain, but those who came in later should also maintain theirs.”

The actor is scheduled to get a lifetime achievement award in late September at Spain’s San Sebastian International Film Festival, though the decision to grant him the award has seen backlash from Spain’s leading women filmmakers.

Source: The Sunday Times