Here’s Johnny! The return of a Hollywood star too big to cancel

In 2018, Johnny Depp was in trouble. The Hollywood star had spent much of the $650m he had earned and was suing his longtime business manager, Joel Mandel, for fraud. He fired his agent, Tracey Jacobs, who had represented him for 30 years, and befriended a little-known lawyer called Adam Waldman, who had encouraged him to file suit against Mandel (the parties later settled).

Depp was once Hollywood’s best-paid actor, with three Oscar nominations, but there were rumours his drug and alcohol use were affecting his work. Some said he had to be fed lines through an earpiece. That December, Disney dropped him from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

There were also the accusations of physical abuse, first levelled by Depp’s former wife, Amber Heard, in 2016. Depp denied the allegations but they added to the image of a once great actor at a low ebb. “He was all over the place,” one Hollywood insider told me. “At that point, i t was difficult to see how he could recover.”

In Depp’s words, Heard’s allegations turned him from “Cinderella to Quasimodo in 0.6 seconds”. Seven years later, however, Depp has been given another chance to go to the ball. Last month it was reported he will play Ebenezer Scrooge in a major studio production due out next year. Depp will play the Dickens miser who is offered a chance of redemption, alongside Andrea Riseborough and Ian McKellen and Tramell Tillman. It will be his first major studio movie since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018.

In the same week, Depp told an interviewer it would be “fun” to reprise Jack Sparrow in the Pirates movies. The films’ producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, has said he believes Depp will sign up “if he likes the way the part’s written”.The 62-year-old star of Edward Scissorhands and Donnie Brasco is slowly transmogrifying from a #MeToo villain back into a bankable star. It’s a rehabilitation that speaks to how power and reputation work in Hollywood, and how the fall and rise of a star links into wider social movements outside even his control.

Johnny Depp is back. The question is: how did this happen?

The scale of the disgrace

In November 2020, Depp’s legal team flipped through Mr Justice Nicol’s 129-page judgment, and were astonished. The actor had sued News Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Sun newspaper, for defamation after a 2018 article called him a “wife beater”. After a 16-day high court trial, they thought they had done enough to win.

They hadn’t. The judgment found the article to “substantially true” and laid out, in excruciating detail, many allegations of domestic violence said to have been committed during Depp’s tempestuous 16-month marriage to Heard. Nicol found that, on the balance of probabilities, 12 of the 14 accusations had been proved.

An inebriated Depp had kicked Heard while on a plane, the judge found. He had pushed her and thrown glasses at her and ripped her dress, grabbed her by the hair with one hand and hit her in the head with the other. “I accept her evidence of the nature of the assaults he committed against her,” the judge said. “They must have been terrifying.” Depp continued to strongly maintain his innocence.

It was the nadir of Depp’s career. Even if, like thousands of his fans, you believed in his innocence, there was no getting around the misogynistic text messages put into evidence. Depp had called Heard a “50 cent stripper” who would “hit the wall hard”, and told his friend, the actor Paul Bettany, that he would “fuck her burnt corpse”. In Hollywood there was a sense that Depp was a tainted brand and that his long run of box-office dominance was coming to an end.

Even so, someone close to the actor told me the mood in his camp was surprisingly upbeat. “He won in the court of public opinion,” they said. “And the reality was that he’d already been subjected to outsider status even before this happened.”

It is true Depp’s drink and drug problems pre-dated the 2020 case. But now a civil court had found he was an abuser and, in the febrile world of the burgeoning #MeToo movement, this was enough to cause him real damage. Two days after the judgment, Depp revealed on Instagram that Warner Bros had asked him to resign from the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

In the aftermath of the judgment, Depp retreated to his villa in Plan-de-la Tour, near Saint-Tropez, and then to a townhouse in Soho, London. He made no professional statements and, apart from some European film festivals, sightings of him were few.

Although he was, according to a source, “frustrated as hell”, his team were planning his comeback. One was Stephen Deuters, the actor’s British assistant who had been promoted to run IN.2 Film, Depp’s UK-based film company. A week after the verdict, Deuters emailed the French director Maïwenn to ask if she still wanted Depp to play Louis XV in Jeanne du Barry, a French-language feature about a mistress of the French king. Maïwenn told Deuters that Depp’s “private life” wasn’t her concern. When asked whether Depp was still interested, Deuters “answered in 30 seconds”, Maïwenn told the Independent.

Depp had also begun to work with Matthew Hiltzik, a lawyer and crisis-management consultant, who had represented other troubled Hollywood stars, including Brad Pitt, who in 2016 was accused of “choking” one of his children on a private plane trip (Pitt called the claims “completely untrue”).

Hiltzik became instrumental in rehabilitating Depp’s US career. He began by focusing on preparing the actor for what many considered the last roll of the dice: another, bigger, defamation case in the US.

The real event

John C Depp II v Amber Laura Heard took place over seven humid weeks in spring 2022 in the circuit court of Fairfax County, Virginia. Compared with the British proceedings, this was a circus. This time, Depp sued Heard over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”. Rather than a single judge, a jury was sworn in to decide the case.

From the start, the momentum was with Depp. . Heard came across as unconvincing and Depp’s legal team – working closely with Hiltzik, his legal team portrayed him as the victim of a toxic relationship. The whole thing was televised, and snippets went viral on social media, where Depp fans posted a stream of anti-Heard content. “The British case was round one before the main event,” a person close to Depp said. “That was an exhibition match. “This time around, discovery was much wider, we had favourable rulings in advance. We felt Heard had put herself in a corner.”

Depp was helped by an outpouring of support, both before and during the trial. Between 2016 and 2022, more than 800,000 tweets were posted with the hashtag #amberheardisanabuser. Only 15,000 tweets used the hashtag #johnnydeppisanabuser.

In 2023, I hosted a multi-part podcast for Tortoise Media called Who Trolled Amber? that looked at the scale of abuse she had faced. Our research found that many anti-Heard posts had been generated by bots and paid-for trolls. The podcast uncovered evidence of a coordinated campaign that some believe could have changed the course of the trial.

On 1 June 2022, the jury delivered its verdict. Heard lost. Depp was awarded $10.35m in damages, although Heard won on a smaller issue and was awarded $2m (they later reached a settlement).

To Depp, the victory was huge – a “double exclamation point on what Johnny had been saying all along”, as one person close to Depp told me. In the aftermath, Dior renewed Depp as the face of its Sauvage fragrance – the highest-selling men’s fragrance in the world.

The three-year deal was worth $20m, the most paid by a perfume brand for a celebrity endorsing a fragrance for men. For a while it was hard to avoid Depp’s face on billboards and TV spots around the world. His team hoped Hollywood would follow suit as studios now had an excuse to welcome him back into the fold. “There are very few people that have the reach he does online,” the person close to Depp said. “There’s no reason why within a year he shouldn’t have been in a studio film.”

But Hollywood remained elusive. “Too many people in this industry spent time being fearful of something rather than standing up for something,” the source said.

Frustrated, Depp decided to retreat. The message seemed to be: if Hollywood doesn’t want me, then I don’t want it.

The quiet life

Days after the US verdict, Freddie Mercury snuggled into Depp’s shoulder as the actor stroked his black-and-white fur. Freddie was a badger cub and Depp had met him during a low-key visit to a wildlife sanctuary in Kent. It was a moment about as far from the glamour of Hollywood as you could get.

Although he owned property in LA, Depp did not return after his court victory. He set up home in Sussex, staying with his friend, the musician Jeff Beck, and appearing with him on his UK tour while the Virginia jury considered its verdict.

By this time, Waldman was no longer a part of the actor’s inner circle. Instead, Depp was advised by a small team of PR professionals led by Melissa Nathan and Breanna Butler Koslow, two Hiltzik colleagues who had split off to form their own operation.

Journalists were briefed that Depp’s move to England was a chance to “concentrate on his first love – music” and to avoid the “hubbub and craziness of LA”. In 2022, he collaborated with Beck on a classic rock album, which the Times described as a “rubbish revenge record”. After Beck died in January 2023, Depp moved to London and embarked on a summer tour with his band, the Hollywood Vampires. Yet for all the badger cuddling, guitar playing and local pub visits, people close to the actor say he was frustrated at the reluctance of Hollywood to immediately offer him roles after the 2022 victory. “It was a matter of risk assessment. In 2022 the studios chose the safe route… over the more profitable one,” a source said.

#MeToo

In 2018, just as Depp was realising how much trouble he was in, the #MeToo movement was taking off around the world.

The British actor Andrea Riseborough signed a letter, published in The Observer, that stated: “In the very near past we lived in a world where sexual harassment was an uncomfortable joke… It was certainly not to be discussed, let alone addressed. In 2018, we seem to have woken up in a world ripe for change.”

The letter was signed by dozens of women in the entertainment industry who supported Time’s Up, a movement dedicated to ending sexual violence and harassment. Riseborough, an award-winning actor who has starred in Birdman and Battle of the Sexes, is a founding member and ambassador.

Seven years later, Riseborough remains committed to helping end sexual harassment in the workplace. But some in her industry have raised eyebrows at her decision to star in a film that will aid Depp’s rehabilitation. Her representatives did not respond to a request for comment but it seems likely a Depp/Riseborough pairing would not have been possible a few years ago.

According to a crisis expert with extensive experience in Hollywood, in 2022 big studios were still reeling from the fallout of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which broke in 2017. Today, Weinstein is in prison, having been convicted of sex crimes in LA, and is awaiting a retrial on another charge. He has faced accusations of sexual misconduct, assault and rape by more than 80 women.

“These things are viewed through a prism of a certain time,” told me. “The closer in proximity to Weinstein, the more impactful [allegations made against Depp and others were], and the greater likelihood of cancellation.”

Studio reluctance to embrace Depp in the aftermath of his court victory was “nothing to do with Johnny”, the expert said, adding: “There’s overwhelming support for Johnny including in the key 16 to 25 female demographic. If it [happened today], people would say he won his case in court, they wouldn’t think twice about it. But companies [then] were worried about perception.”

But if there were one thing Depp’s people could rely on, it was Hollywood’s love of a comeback. “In Hollywood, business always reigns supreme,” said Kathryn Arnold, a producer and consultant who gave evidence in the 2022 trial for Heard.

“Memory is short-term. If you play your cards right, and you’re talented, you can find your way back. Johnny has played it very well. He stayed quiet after the settlement, working on passion projects and focusing on his family. He’s a strong actor and Ebenezer is a great role. Time heals.”

But Depp’s biggest advantage was his commercial appeal, particularly with female audiences. This made his comeback a juicier commercial prospect than with other “cancelled” stars such as Kevin Spacey. Spacey, a two-time Academy Award winner, was cleared of sexual assault in two separate cases, in 2022 and 2023. He has spoken publicly about his rejection by Hollywood and how he now has “no home”. To make cash, he is now singing show tunes, including at a nightclub in Cyprus.

The Trump effect

Even those close to Depp accept that his rehabilitation isn’t all about him. The actor has benefited from a broader political and cultural backlash against #MeToo. It is a shift that , depending on your political view, seems to have been both a catalyst for Donald Trump’s re-election last year and accelerated by it since.

“There’s a significant interactivity between the political climate and what happens culturally,” the crisis expert said. “The return of Trump has led to a significantly higher hurdle for [a claim of harassment] to stick in any negative way.”

Trump himself has faced claims of sexual misconduct and has bigged up politicians such as Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth, who have been similarly accused. In February, the online misogynist Andrew Tate was embraced by Dana White, the UFC president and key Trump ally, who has also admitted slapping his wife.

The US may be more aware of sexual misconduct after #MeToo, but revisionism is gathering pace. It’s a shift that has left Hollywood studios freer to make the hires they want – not just in Depp’s case but more broadly.

This year, Paramount – the studio producing Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol – was taken over by David Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. In August, Ellison appointed Jeff Shell as studio chief, despite NBCUniversal having fired him in 2023 for an allegedly inappropriate relationship with a fellow staff member.

“There was no way Shell would have been hired three years ago,” one insider said. Ellison, who pledged to abandon all diversity and inclusion programmes at Paramount Global, has said the company “will be a fierce defender of talent, and always has been”.

Other actors who have faced allegations of sexual harassment are also making a comeback. These include James Franco, who is set to star in a true-crime thriller about the Golden State Killer – his first studio movie since he settled claims of sexual misconduct brought by four former students at his Los Angeles acting school in 2021. Some in Hollywood still doubt the wisdom of Paramount’s decision to cast Depp. A film industry source told Radar Online: “Choosing Johnny to play Scrooge is incredibly tone-deaf. It’s a story about reckoning with one’s past, and the parallels are impossible to ignore. For many abuse survivors, it feels like Hollywood is turning something painful into entertainment.”

But the main message from sources who spoke to The Observer was that Depp’s comeback represents a triumph of financial pragmatism over principle. “David Ellison is new on the street,” Arnold said. “Paramount wants to make a splash. Ebenezer is a great title and people are going to want to see it. They love Johnny and they want to see if he can create magic again.”

Depp’s team declined to comment, as did Hiltzik. Heard also had nothing to say about her former partner. Now living in Madrid with her young children, she has landed parts in independent movies and plays but seems to have moved on from her life in Hollywood. As for Riseborough, her agent and manager did not respond to requests for comment. One Hollywood insider said: “The opportunity [to star with Depp] is too big to turn down. You have to take into account your morals and your ethics, and you have to take into account your career, and in Hollywood the two don’t always cross over.”

Photographs by Samir Hussein/WireImage, Maximum Film/Alamy, Dominique Charriau/WireImage, Steve Helber/AFP via Getty Images