News Analysis India

Tag: Johnny Depp

  • Witness for Johnny Depp cryptically contradicts key Amber Heard witness

    By Associated Press

    FALLS CHURCH: Jurors in Johnny Depp’s libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard heard a snippet of testimony Tuesday contradicting one of Heard’s key witnesses, but much of the context was stripped away.

    Jennifer Howell — who once employed Heard’s sister, Whitney Henriquez — testified briefly Tuesday in the six-week civil trial through a recorded deposition.

    Depp is suing Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers say he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

    Depp has denied he ever struck Heard and says she was the abuser in the relationship. Heard has testified about more than a dozen separate instances of physical abuse she says she suffered at Depp’s hands. Howell testified that she sent an email in 2020 to Henriquez begging her to tell the truth.

    Jurors, though, did not see the letter, nor did Howell explain in what way she thought Henriquez was being untruthful. The edited deposition played in court for less than 15 minutes — Howell appeared to walk out of the deposition before lawyers had completed their questioning.

    In a court document, though, Howell goes into much greater detail. She gives a four-page declaration in which she says Henriquez confided in her that Heard was the aggressor in the fight and Henriquez allegedly said she thought Heard “was going to kill Johnny.”

    Howell also says in the declaration that Henriquez told her and others in their workplace that Heard cut off Depp’s finger in a fight the couple had in Australia. The severed finger has been a point of dispute throughout the trial. Depp says the finger was severed when Heard lobbed a vodka bottle at him. Heard says Depp did it to himself on a night when he was in a drunken rage and sexually assaulted her with a bourbon bottle.

    Henriquez is the only one of Heard’s witnesses who testified in the six-week trial that she personally witnessed Depp physically assault Heard, in a fight where she said each landed blows on the other while she was caught between the two.

    It’s not entirely clear why Howell’s testimony was so limited. Throughout the trial, though, Judge Penney Azcarate has strictly enforced rules limiting hearsay evidence, and Howell’s description of what Henriquez told her would likely be a classic example of hearsay unless Depp’s lawyers could claim some sort of exception to the hearsay rule.

    ALSO READ| Johnny Depp’s severed finger story has flaws: Surgeon

    In Howell’s declaration, she acknowledged that she was upset when she learned that Heard had pledged millions of dollars to the American Civil Liberties Union and a children’s hospital, when Howell thought the money could do more good at The Art of Elysium, the nonprofit she ran and that had employed Henriquez.

    The limited nature of Howell’s testimony makes it unclear if jurors will draw the connections that Depp’s team hopes to make.

    Howell testified as a rebuttal witness for Depp after Heard rested her case Tuesday morning without calling Depp to the stand — Heard’s lawyers had initially suggested they would call Depp as a witness.

    Jurors may still hear more from Depp. His team has indicated they may call him to the stand Wednesday. Both Depp and Heard have each testified extensively already about details of their toxic relationship. Also Tuesday, the celebrity news site TMZ filed an emergency motion seeking to block the testimony of a former employee, Morgan Tremaine.

    TMZ said it’s concerned that Tremaine is prepared to testify Wednesday for Depp and violate a pledge of confidentiality that the news outlet provided to a source who gave TMZ information related to the couple’s high-profile divorce.

    Heard has denied that she tipped off news outlets to the fact that she obtained a temporary restraining order after filing for divorce from Depp in 2016. Heard alleged Depp abused her in that application, and Heard was photographed by paparazzi leaving the courthouse with an apparent bruise on her cheek.

    Depp’s lawyers have said she sought publicity about her abuse allegations to falsely damage his reputation.

    Also Tuesday, Judge Penney Azcarate rejected a motion from Depp’s attorneys to toss out a $100 million counterclaim she filed against Depp. The counterclaim alleges Depp’s then-lawyer, Adam Waldman, defamed Heard when he called her abuse allegations a hoax.

    Azcarate said the bar for tossing out a claim before it goes to the jury is exceedingly high, and said there is enough evidence to allow it to go forward. She had already ruled Depp could be held responsible for statements made by his lawyer, a principle Depp’s team disputes.

  • Johnny Depp’s severed finger story has flaws: Surgeon

    Jurors had already heard from both Depp and Heard extensively — each was on the stand for four days, undergoing grueling cross-examinations.

  • Amber Heard fires PR team over ‘bad headlines’, days before trial

    LOS ANGELES: Actress Amber Heard fired her PR team and switched to a new firm after she reportedly became frustrated following a week of ‘bad headlines’ during the defamation trial brought by her ex-husband and actor Johnny Depp, a new report claimed.According to dailymail.co.uk, Heard was being represented by Precision Strategies, which she suddenly ditched in favour of LA-based consulting firm Shane Communications. She made the move in apparent hopes that she might receive more favourable coverage this week – during which time she is expected to take to the stand and testify.”She doesn’t like bad headlines,” an unnamed source told the New York Post, which first reported the news, reports dailymail.co.uk. Another source told the newspaper that Heard, 36, is “frustrated with her story not being told effectively.”The A-list trial in Virginia, which started on April 11 and is set to last another three weeks, has so far seen Depp, 58, claim he was the victim of domestic abuse during his four days of testimony – with his bodyguard on Thursday even describing in detail the wounds on the actor’s face allegedly sustained during a confrontation with Heard.The actor is suing Heard for $50 million, claiming she defamed him and ruined his career after a 2018 Washington Post article in which she described herself as a ‘public figure representing domestic abuse’, without naming her ex-husband.Heard is counter-suing for $100 million, and after three weeks of sitting silently in the courtroom during Depp’s testimony, she is preparing to start her fightback, possibly as soon as Wednesday. The PR firm switch came following several days of court testimony from Depp witnesses that saw the social-media mob suddenly turn against Heard.Heard’s credibility as a philanthropist also took a battering when it was claimed she had not donated her $3.5 million divorce settlement to charity, something she had promised publicly to do. She had apparently donated only $1.3 million and much of that appeared to have come from her former boyfriend, billionaire Elon Musk.According to Terence Dougherty, the chief operating officer of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the recipient of Amber’s ‘largesse’ of $500,000, it came from a Vanguard fund connected to Musk.Her contributions dried up by 2019, and Dougherty told the court the ACLU ‘learned that she was having financial difficulties’. Heard’s lawyer is arguing Depp abused her both physically and sexually and she hopes to make her point once she takes the stand early this week. Shane Communications is led by its CEO David Shane, who has briefed against Depp in the past.In 2017, the firm highlighted accusations made by Depp’s former business managers, The Management Group, alleging that the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star needed to hire a shrink for his ‘compulsive spending’ habit of spending $2 million per month.Depp then launched a $25 million lawsuit last month against his business managers, The Mandel Company, claiming ‘gross mismanagement’ of his affairs. One crisis communications expert told the Post that they believed the new PR company would have its work cut out in order to change the narrative.”It’s crazy to change teams in the middle of a trial like this because you don’t like the headlines,” said Lis Smith, a senior communications director for Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign.”After years of narrative building, you can’t change the public’s opinion in the three weeks when someone is suing you in a case.” Heard never wanted cameras to be allowed in the courtroom at all, but Depp’s team pushed for it, and won. Depp has even accused his ex of defecating on their bed in an act of aggression.Testimony so far has also included photos of severed fingers, pictures of feces, videos of explosive arguments and temper tantrums, and even a discussion about the Hollywood star’s penis. Depp denies the allegations of abuse noting how he brought the lawsuit in order to clear his name.Lawyers for Heard say such denials are not credible because the actor was too drunk and high to remember what occurred. The trial in the Fairfax County Courthouse runs Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 5 pm, and is set to conclude on May 19.

  • Johnny Depp’s ex-agent: Abuse cost him ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: A former agent for Hollywood star Johnny Depp testified that Amber Heard’s abuse allegations had a ‘traumatic impact’ on Depp’s image, and cost him the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise.Christian Carino, a talent agent at Creative Artists Agency, appeared by video deposition at Depp’s defamation trial.Depp is suing Heard, his former wife, for $50 million, claiming that she destroyed his career by fabricating claims of domestic violence, reports ‘Variety’.Carino testified that it became clear, through conversations with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and CAA co-chair Bryan Lourd, that Disney had decided it could not continue to employ Depp.Carino said that the abuse claims were never openly discussed as the reason, but that it was simply “understood” within the industry.Carino was friends with both Heard and Depp, and represented both of them at various points, though he said he no longer has a relationship with either of them.He testified that Depp is “one of the finest actors of his generation”, and that has not changed despite the turmoil of his life in recent years. But he also said that the lawsuits with his former business manager, his former attorney, and with Heard have damaged Depp’s off-screen image.”I think what he was known for off-screen was a shroud of mystery of who he was, because he was not visible to the public,” Carino said.”It changed with the exposure that came with the lawsuits.”According to ‘Variety’, Carino was asked about the production of the fifth ‘Pirates’ film, in 2015, and acknowledged that Depp was routinely late to set.”I’m aware of him being tardy, but he’s been tardy on everything his entire life,” Carino said, adding that the production had figured out how to work around the issue.Carino was vague about when Disney decided not to hire Depp for a potential sixth ‘Pirates’ film, which remains in limbo, saying at first that he could not specify even the year when it occurred. The timing of that decision is a key issue in the case.Depp’s lawyers contend that it came just days after Heard published an op-ed, on December 18, 2018, in which she referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”.Heard’s lawyers argue that the decision was actually made earlier.Depp’s lawyers presented Carino with an email chain from December 20, 2018, in which Depp’s agents and publicist passed around a MovieWeb article that stated that Depp “won’t return” to the franchise.”Were we told this officially from Disney?” Carino wrote.Jack Whigham, another agent, responded, “No”.Heard first levelled her allegations in May 2016, when she filed for divorce and sought a restraining order. The restraining order was later dropped and the couple issued a joint statement, in which they stated that neither had made false claims for financial gain.According to ‘Variety’, on Wednesday, the jurors saw video depositions with two LAPD officers and a front desk employee who works at the Eastern Columbia Building, where Depp used to own several penthouses.The officers were called to the penthouses on May 21, 2016, for a report of domestic violence. Heard refused to make a report, and the officers testified they saw no evidence of injury.

  • Johnny Depp grilled about drug, alcohol use at defamation trial

    By AFP

    WASHINGTON: Actor Johnny Depp was grilled about his drug and alcohol use and coarse text messages as he took the witness stand on Thursday for a third day at his defamation case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

    Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn spent more than five hours seeking to undermine the credibility of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star before the seven-person jury hearing the suit in Fairfax County Circuit Court.

    The 58-year-old Depp was asked about his trashing of hotel rooms and the circumstances of an incident in Australia in which the tip of the middle finger on his right hand was severed.

    Depp testified Wednesday that it was caused by a furious Heard throwing a vodka bottle at him. Her lawyer told the jury that Depp had told doctors he cut himself with a knife.

    Depp acknowledged during cross-examination that after his finger was cut he used the wounded digit to scrawl messages around the house using his own blood and paint.

    Heard’s lawyers played a video at one point of Depp slamming cabinet doors in their kitchen and pouring himself a large glass of red wine.

    “I did assault a couple of cabinets but I did not touch Miss Heard,” Depp said when asked about the video. 

    In an audiotape played by her lawyer of a conversation between Depp and Heard, she complains about having bruises on her head, a split lip and a black eye.

    Heard’s lawyers have claimed Depp would become a “monster” during drug- and alcohol-fueled benders and physically and sexually abuse Heard.

    Depp has denied the allegations and claimed it was Heard who was frequently violent during their relationship.

    Depp filed a defamation suit against Heard over a column she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”

    Heard, who starred in the movie “Aquaman,” never named Depp — but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.

    The Texas-born Heard, who turns 36 on Friday, countersued, asking for $100 million and claiming she suffered “rampant physical violence and abuse” at his hands.

    Depp and Heard met in 2009 on the set of the film “The Rum Diary” and were married in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized two years later.  

    ‘Shame and regret’ 

    Rottenborn probed Depp extensively about his drug and alcohol use, including partaking with shock rocker Marilyn Manson.

    “We drank together. We’ve had cocaine together maybe a couple of times,” Depp said. “I once gave Marilyn Manson a pill so that he would stop talking so much.”

    Depp acknowledged using drugs and alcohol to “numb the residual pain from my youth,” but denied Rottenborn’s suggestion it was to excess or that he would ever “black out.”

    Rottenborn read text messages from Depp to various people in which he apologized for his behavior and sought the advice of Elton John on how to get clean.

    “Once again I find myself in a place of shame and regret,” he said in a May 25, 2014 text to Heard. “I will never do it again. I want to get better for you.”

    Depp admitted that he has taken out his anger on objects in the past but denied ever striking Heard.

    “I don’t believe I’m the only human being who has ever punched a door,” he said. “I have assaulted a couch or two.”

    Heard’s lawyers introduced text messages in which Depp used profane language about her, calling her an “idiot cow” and talking about her “rotting corpse.”  

    “Let’s burn Amber,” he said in a text message to the actor Paul Bettany, a friend. “Let’s drown her before we burn her.”

    In a text to Heard’s sister, Depp said “I never want to lay eyes on that filthy whore Amber.”

    Depp was also asked about a “heated argument” he had with Heard over his suspicion that she was having an affair with the actor James Franco.

    Testifying on Wednesday, the thrice Oscar-nominated Depp said the allegations that he was a “drunken, cocaine-fueled menace who beat women” have cost him “everything.”

    The actor said that a “couple of days” after the Post column appeared, Disney announced he would no longer appear as Captain Jack Sparrow in the blockbuster “Pirates” franchise.

    Depp filed the defamation complaint in the United States after losing a separate libel case in London in November 2020 that he brought against The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater.”

  • ‘I was demeaned, berated by ex-wife Amber Heard’, testifies Johnny Depp

    Depp sued after Heard made an indirect reference to those accusations in a 2018 op-ed piece she wrote for The Washington Post.

  • Johnny Depp on stand: Ex-wife Heard’s allegations ‘heinous’

    By Associated Press

    FAIRFAX:  Actor Johnny Depp told jurors Tuesday that he felt compelled to sue his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel out of an obsession for the truth after she accused him of domestic violence.

    “My goal is the truth because it killed me that all these people I had met over the years … that these people would think that I was a fraud,” he said.

    Depp flatly denied ever hitting Heard, calling the physical and sexual assault allegations against him disturbing, heinous and “not based in any species of truth.” “Nothing of the kind ever happened,” Depp said in court.

    Alluding to the fall his career has taken since Heard levied abuse allegations against him, the former “Pirates of the Caribbean” star said, “it’s been six years of trying times. It’s very strange when one day you’re Cinderella, so to speak, and then in 0.6 seconds you’re Quasimodo.”

    For the first hour-plus of testimony Tuesday, Depp gave long, stream-of-consciousness answers to questions about his childhood and his early movie career, speaking in his signature deep baritone. After one long answer, he admitted: “I forgot what the original question was.”

    Indeed, he acknowledged his meandering style, particularly as it relates to his writing style. He mentioned his long friendship and collaborations with the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, and said he sought to emulate a style that often incorporated brash language and embellishing thoughts.

    He said that led him at times to write text messages that he now finds embarrassing, and he apologized to the jury for the vulgar language he used in text messages introduced as evidence to describe Heard.

    “In the heat of the moment, in the heat of the pain I was feeling, I went to dark places,” he said. But he said he’d been waiting for six years to tell his side of the story after Heard filed for divorce against him in 2016 and sought a restraining order against him.

    ALSO READ: Amber Heard to go on social media hiatus ahead of defamation lawsuit filed by Johnny Depp

    The trial began more than a week ago, but, prior to Tuesday, jurors had only seen the Hollywood star sitting silently with his team of lawyers as each side has tried to embarrass the other in a trial that Heard’s lawyers accurately predicted would turn into a mudslinging soap opera.

    After denying Heard’s abuse allegations, Depp spoke at length about a childhood in which physical abuse from his mother was “constant.” When he became a father, Depp said, he made sure his children didn’t experience that kind of upbringing.

    Depp will continue his testimony Wednesday. In Tuesday’s session, he testified primarily about the early years of his relationship with Heard, saying she seemed “too good to be true” at first.

    “She was attentive,” Depp said of the woman he married in 2015. “She was loving. She was smart. She was kind. She was funny. She was understanding … We had many things in common, certain blues music … literature.”

    He said there were little things, though, that gave him indications of a rocky relationship ahead. She became upset, he said, when he broke an established routine in which she took off his boots for him when he came home. And he said she was angry when he wouldn’t go to bed when she was ready.

    “I didn’t understand why, as a 50-some-year-old man, I couldn’t go to sleep when I wanted to,” he said.

    Depp, 58, said he was cognizant of the age difference between him and Heard, 35. “I acknowledge the fact I was the old, craggy fogey and she was this beautiful, creature,” he said. But Depp said that within a year and a half, it was as if Heard had become another person.

    Actress Amber Heard in the courtroom during a hearing at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax. (Photo | AP)

    So far, Depp’s friends, family, and employees have testified that Heard was the aggressor in the relationship, physically attacking him on multiple occasions. Heard’s former personal assistant testified that Heard spit in the face in a fit of rage.

    Heard’s lawyers have said Depp physically and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions, often in situations where he drank so much he later blacked out. Depp said Heard’s allegations of his substance abuse have been “grossly embellished” and that there have been no moments where he’s been out of control.

    “I’m not some maniac who needs to be high or loaded all the time,” Depp said, though he admitted to doing “a line or two” of cocaine with Heard’s sister, Whitney.

    The actor said he was addicted to pain medication, which stemmed from an injury on the set of the fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. He also said he took his mother’s “nerve pills” when he was a kid. But Depp said he detoxed from the pain medication and has experienced long periods of sobriety over the years.

    “The characterization of my ‘substance abuse’ that’s been delivered by Ms. Heard is grossly embellished,” Depp said. “And I’m sorry to say, but a lot of it is just plainly false. I think that it was an easy target for her to hit.”

    The lawsuit itself is supposed to be over whether Heard libeled Depp when she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post about domestic violence. In the article, Heard referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”

    She never mentioned Depp by name, but Depp and his lawyers said it was a clear reference to accusations Heard made in 2016 when the couple divorced and she sought a restraining order against him.

    Heard’s lawyers, who have filed their own countersuit against Depp, said nothing in the article libels him. They say the abuse allegations are true, and that the damage to Depp’s reputation — which he says got him booted from the lucrative “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise — came from his own bad behavior.

  • Amber Heard’s ex-assistant alleges actress’s claims of physical abuse are false

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: The ongoing legal battle between ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard has taken an interesting turn as Heard’s former assistant Kate James, has testified against her boss’s claims of physical abuse at the hands of Depp in the court, reports ‘Insider’.

    Heard is being sued by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, for $50 million, on allegations that she defamed him by describing herself as a “figure representing domestic violence” in a 2018 op-ed in the ‘Washington Post’.

    As per ‘Insider’, Heard responded to the lawsuit by countersuing Depp, and alleging that he physically assaulted her on 10 occasions throughout their relationship. The couple parted ways in 2016, after Heard filed for a protective order in court, with what appeared to be a bruise on her face.

    Depp’s attorneys presented a prerecorded video of Kate to the jurors. During her period of working for Heard as her personal assistant from 2012 to 2015, Kate argued that she never witnessed Heard and Depp getting into verbal or physical altercations, nor did she notice any evidence of domestic violence during her regular visits to the couple’s respective homes.

    However, she said Heard did contact her in distress after arriving back at their home in Los Angeles after a private flight with Depp in May 2014. For the said incident, Heard alleged in court filings that Depp kicked her and threw objects at her on the flight because he was upset about a romantic scene she had filmed the day prior with James Franco.

    Kate also recalled how she was at the receiving end of humiliation and abuse from Heard when she asked for an increased salary. ‘Insider’ reports that she said she initially took the position for $25 per hour because the schedule was flexible enough for her to be able to pick up her son after school.

    But about six months into the job, James said, it became a full-time position. She says Heard screamed at her when she pushed back against the $50,000 salary Heard offered, which she said was about half of what she usually makes.

    Recalling the incident, Kate said, “She (Heard) leapt out of her chair and put her face approximately four inches from my face, spitting in my face, how dare I ask for the salary I’m asking for.”

  • Amber Heard to go on social media hiatus ahead of defamation lawsuit filed by Johnny Depp 

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: Actor Amber Heard says she will be “offline for the next several weeks” as she faces a defamation lawsuit in the US filed by her former husband and embattled Hollywood star Johnny Depp.

    Heard, who will next be seen in Warner Bros/ DC film “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”, shared the update with her fans and followers on Instagram on Saturday night.

    “I’m going to go offline for the next several weeks. As you may know, I’ll be in Virginia where I face my ex-husband Johnny Depp in court. Johnny is suing me for an op-ed I wrote in the Washington Post, in which I recounted my experience of violence and domestic abuse,” the 35-year-old wrote in the note.

    According to Variety, Depp has launched a legal battle against Heard after she penned a Washington Post op-ed in 2018 stating that she is a survivor of domestic abuse. Although Heard did not mention Depp (58) by name in the column, she accused him of domestic violence after filing for divorce in 2016.

    In her message on Instagram, the actor said in the article in question she never named Depp but rather wrote about “the price women pay for speaking against men in power”.

    “I continue to pay that price, but hopefully when this case concludes, I can move on and so can Johnny,” she further said.

    Depp is pursuing a USD 50 million defamation lawsuit against Heard. Her plea to dismiss the suit after Depp lost his libel case in the UK was denied. The case is set to open Monday in Fairfax County, Virginia.

    In her post Heard continued she has always “maintained a love” for her former husband, adding that “it brings me great pain to have to live out the details of our past life together in front of the world”.

    “At this time, I recognize the ongoing support I’ve been fortunate to receive throughout these years, and in these coming weeks I will be leaning on it more than ever,” she added.

    In November 2020, Depp lost a UK libel case against the publisher of The Sun, a British tabloid that alleged he was a “wife-beater” in a 2018 article. The judge ruled that the words were “substantially true”.

    Later Heard requested that Depp’s defamation suit filed against her in the US be dismissed after the UK verdict came out, since both lawsuits involve allegations of Depp as an abuser. However, the Virginia court ruled that the two cases and statements were “inherently different”.

    Depp has since argued that Hollywood is “boycotting” him, pointing to the long-delayed release of his biopic “Minamata”.

    Since his losing the UK lawsuit, the actor also exited the Warner Bros franchise “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, where he had played the main antagonist role of Gellert Grindelwald in two films. Mads Mikkelsen was later recast in the role for the upcoming third film titled “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”, which was released in the UK on April 8.

  • Johnny Depp to play controversial French king Louis XV in new historical drama

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: Actor Johnny Depp is set to take on the role of French king Louis XV.

    As per Variety, the 58-year-old star will feature as the controversial royal in a new movie from French filmmaker Maiwenn. The shoot for the upcoming film will begin this summer.

    The yet-to-be-titled movie’s exact plot details are kept under wraps. It is being produced by Pascal Caucheteux and Gregoire Sorlat’s Paris-based Why Not Productions with Wild Bunch International handling world sales.

    Filming will take place for three months on location across Parisian landmarks, mainly at the Versailles Palace.

    Apart from directing the movie, Maiwenn will also star alongside Depp as Countess Jeanne du Barry, Louis XV’s final mistress.

    Louis XV, who was nicknamed ‘the beloved’ and reigned for 59 years, the longest in the history of France after that of Louis XIV. Paradoxically, Louis XV died as an unpopular king after being accused of corruption and debauchery.

    The upcoming film is the first that Depp has signed on to since losing his libel case against a British tabloid in November 2020. He previously sued the outlet after it called him a “wife-beater,” following his contentious split from now-ex-wife Amber Heard.

    After losing the case, Depp agreed to exit the role of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the ‘Harry Potter’ spinoff series, ‘Fantastic Beasts’. Mads Mikkelsen was then cast as the villainous character in the franchise’s upcoming third installment, ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’.

    Depp’s most recent role was as photographer W. Eugene Smith in the drama ‘Minamata’, which he also co-produced. While ‘Minamata’ was not released in the US until last month, it premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2020.

    Although he has fallen from Hollywood’s good graces, Depp hasn’t faced much backlash in Europe.

    He recently received honorary awards at the Karlovy Vary Festival and San Sebastian Film Festival. Depp was also celebrated at the Deauville American Film Festival, in the French Normandy, in 2020, and received an award from the hands of Catherine Deneuve.

    Depp, who is taking on the role of the French king, lived in France for many years with Vanessa Paradis, with whom he has a daughter, Lily Rose Depp.

    The period movie will mark a departure for Maiwenn, an actor-turned-filmmaker whose films are all contemporary and often personal.

    Her last film ‘DNA’, a thought-provoking ensemble family drama was part of Cannes 2020’s Official Selection. Her previous film, ‘Mon Roi’ earned its star Emmanuelle Bercot a best actress award at Cannes in 2015; while her 2011 drama ‘Polisse’ won the Cannes jury prize.