Johnny Depp announced at the Cannes Film Festival that he is done with Hollywood and criticised the media for the negative coverage he has received. Despite a standing ovation for his latest film, “Jeanne Du Barry”, he did not consider it to be a comeback, saying “maybe people stopped calling” him due to fear. Depp was fired from the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise during his legal battle with Amber Heard, which he won and saw her ordered to pay him $10 million in damages.
Johnny Depp announced at the Cannes Film Festival that he is done with Hollywood, stating that what has been written about him is “fiction” and that he doesn’t feel a further need for Hollywood.
Johnny Depp made a surprising announcement during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival where he received a standing ovation for his latest film, “Jeanne Du Barry.” The actor announced that he is done with Hollywood and called out the media for publishing fiction about him. Depp arrived 45 minutes late to the press conference, where he enigmatically said, “When you’re asked to resign from a film you’re doing because of something that’s merely a bunch of vowels and consonants floating in the air.” Depp was allegedly fired from his role in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise amid his legal battle with Amber Heard.
Depp denied feeling boycotted by Hollywood but stated that he doesn’t feel much further need for Hollywood and doesn’t think about it. His appearance in the high-profile French film has been described as a “comeback” by many, but Depp disagreed with that statement. He said that he kept wondering about the word ‘comeback’ because “maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time, but I didn’t go anywhere.”
Depp starred in “Jeanne Du Barry,” which opened the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, and received a standing ovation. He played King Louis XV and spoke French in the film. Despite an online campaign called “#CannesYouNot” by Amber Heard supporters, no protesters were spotted outside the screening. Depp sued Heard for $50 million in 2019, claiming that Heard defamed him by falsely claiming he abused her in a Washington Post op-ed in 2018, though she didn’t name him. Heard countersued him for $100 million, but Depp won the case and Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages.
Fest director Thierry Fremaux addressed the backlash of having Depp’s film play, saying that he cares about Johnny Depp as an actor and is not interested in this very mediatized process. Depp stated that the majority of what has been written about him in the last five or six years is fantastically, horrifically written fiction. Although Depp’s new film has been considered his comeback film, he doesn’t view it that way, saying that he didn’t go anywhere.